


Our Family

by jenjen92



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Angst, Background IwaOi - Freeform, Background Relationships, Boys In Love, Bullying, Domestic Fluff, Eventual Smut, Falling In Love, Family, Family Fluff, First Dates, Fluff, Getting Together, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, Love at First Sight, M/M, Single Parents, Smut, Sweet, child!Hinata, child!Kageyama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2018-10-29 04:15:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 53,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10846272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenjen92/pseuds/jenjen92
Summary: Suga, single father to an energetic 7 year old has all but given up on relationships, used to them being over as soon as he mentions having a son. Yet when Sawamura Daichi transfers to his office he wonders whether it is worth trying one more time. Daichi is strong, gorgeous and reliable, everything Suga could possibly want in a man but keeping his son a secret from him was probably not the best decision he ever made.Through ups, downs, and battling with his own insecurities Suga attempts one last time to get the family he has always wished for.Single father AU.





	1. Chapter 1

Suga exhaled slowly, counting to five in his head. He needed to stay focused and not be distracted by the cuteness.

"Shouyou." He started, looking down at the beaming face jumping around below him, "What day is it?"

"Um, Monday!" Shouyou's reply was cheerful, his smile only widening when Suga acknowledged that he was correct.

"Okay, so what do you need on a Monday?"

He could almost see the gears in Shouyou's head turning as the boy paused in his bouncing before realisation flashed onto his face.

"Ah!" He shouted, dashing into the next room in a flash of orange before returning with his PE kit in hand.

"Good boy." Suga grinned, patting Shouyou's head fondly, before attaching the bag to his rucksack, "You _almost_ remembered by yourself this time. Now let's go before Tobio gets angry that you kept him waiting for too long again.

 

It was always a mad dash to get out of the door in the mornings. Either Suga, Shouyou, or both of them forgetting something in their rush to leave, most days spent running wildly hand in hand towards the train station. They made it just in time, five minutes before Suga's train and without keeping Shouyou's best friend and the son of Suga's _own_ best friend waiting too long.

He waved a hand at Iwaizumi who was waiting with Tobio, and he nodded in response, both young boys hurrying off in the direction of their school with their bright yellow alarms dangling from their leather rucksacks. Suga waited for a moment, just until they turned the corner, before sprinting to the platform, swiping his card messily along the ticket barrier.

It wasn't easy balancing a growing career while being a solo parent to an overly energetic 7 year old, but Suga liked to think that he was managing the best that he could. At home and when he was out with his son, Suga's identity was 'Shouyou's father', a role which he never thought he would have at 28. However at work it was different, he was 'Sugawara Koushi, junior manager in the design team', a label which Suga still believes fits him better.

 

"Good morning everyone!"

"Good morning Suga!" A chorus of voices echoed out of time through the office as Suga entered, the weight from his shoulders of his other identity already being lifted.

He made his way to his desk, nudging the man roughly who was sat in the space next to his.

"Yo, Asahi."

Asahi yelped slightly before registering who it was, Suga bursting into laughter at the display.

"Suga! Morning. How's Shouyou?" Asahi dropped his voice lower than usual.

"He's fine, energetic as always." Suga shrugged his bag off below his desk. "I think the summer holiday made him crazier. Did the office break down in my absence last week?"

"Fortunately, no. But the new finance manager who transferred from the Osaka branch is starting today."

"Finance?" Suga leaned his chin on his palm thoughtfully, "Ugh. I bet he is another boring, stuffy man with round glasses and balding hair."

Asahi chuckled nervously, fiddling with the band that his long hair was tucked into.

"Are you going to introduce yourself?"

"I suppose I have to." Suga said, standing up from his chair with a large sigh, "Make me a coffee while I am gone."

Suga didn't like the finance department at the best of times. Numbers were not his forte, and he always dreaded his reports coming back covered in big red circles and angry messages to be more accurate. The last manager in particular was a dictator, and Suga didn't expect the next one to be any better.

How he was wrong.

The new finance manager was not balding. Or stuffy looking. A broad chest attached to even broader shoulders was sat at the finance desk, short brown hair framing a decently chiselled jaw. The man smiled as Suga approached, his whole demeanour giving a sense of warm trust. Suga blinked, momentarily taken aback, before snapping back into action.

"Hi!" He said, leaning over the man's desk and smiling widely at him in return, "I'm Sugawara Koushi, junior manager in the design team. But you can just call me Suga. Everyone else does."

"Nice to meet you, Suga." The man said, his voice deep enough to send a shiver down Suga's spine as he stood from his seat and offered his hand, "I'm Sawamura Daichi, the new finance manager."

Now standing at full height, he seemed even more impressive. He wasn't _big_ per se, but slightly on the bulkier side. In every good meaning of the word. Suga quickly accepted his hand, allowing himself to be pulled into a handshake. The grip was firm, solid, and Suga could feel the power the man held through the shake.

"Sawamura, mm?" Suga said, finally allowing himself to release the hand, "It's a long name. What should I call you? Can I use Daichi?"

Part of him expected him to be flustered by the question, or to laugh it off as a joke and suggest something else. Yet instead, he simply nodded, walking to the other side of the desk to stand closer to Suga.

"Sure. Daichi is fine."

"Oh, okay. Daichi." Suga said, liking the feeling of the name on his tongue as Daichi hovered almost too close. He couldn't have himself being the only one starting to become flustered.

"If you need help with anything or have any questions just come and find me, alright?" Suga put on his best smile, it seemingly having the effect that he wanted, "I will do what I can."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

And with those words and a lingering smile Daichi returned to his seat, the magic broken.

 

"Asahi, you big, bearded _idiot_!" Suga hissed as he marched back towards where Asahi was sat, his face immediately falling as he approached and mouth already beginning to stutter, "I can't believe what you just did!"

"W-what did I do?"

"You didn't tell me that the new guy was so gorgeous!"

Part of the panic in Asahi's expression vanished, yet he still seemed wary.

"I...didn't notice?"

"No, of course you didn't." Suga sighed, flopping into his seat and finally beginning to power up his computer, "Not with your barely-legal boyfriend. Some of us actually like men, y'know."

"Noya is 20. He _is_ a man."

"But he looks like a 15 year old. No offence."

Asahi was probably either glaring at him or close to tears, but Suga could hardly care as took a long sip of the fresh coffee on his desk.

"He could still have a bad personality, it just might not have come out yet." He said, partly to convince himself that he wasn't already starting to fall for the new guy at work. "I might grow to hate him."

Asahi snorted.  
  


It soon became apparent that Daichi did not have a bad personality. He moved around the office, introducing himself to everyone and shaking their hand, regardless of their position, keeping up a polite but friendly persona. Suga could not help but follow him out of the corner of one eye, or both. Although his presence wasn't overwhelming, there was a certain sense of security that accompanied him, the other members of the office also warming up to him quickly.

Concentrating on his tasks became extremely difficult that day.

 

Suga was just on time to collect Shouyou from the after school care facility after work where his son spent each evening. He could feel the eyes of some of the other parents as he waited in the front for his son to appear from the classroom, the judgement silent but very much present. Suga kept his head high, smiling sweetly at one of the mothers who caught his gaze. She looked away.

He was used to the questions now, although they hurt at first. Yes, Shouyou was biologically his son. No, the mother wasn't in Shouyou's life and hadn't been for 6 years. Yes, he was perfectly aware of how a condom worked.

The older Suga became the less he found himself in these situations, yet rumours still got out and gossip was spread. He hated it.

Yet it didn't seem to matter when Suga's son finally arrived, his mood instantly improving as he practically jumped on top of him in an enthusiastic hug.

"How was school, sweetie?" Suga asked, the boy all but skipping by his side as they set on their lengthy walk home.

"It was alright." Shouyou said, tucking his hands into his pockets, "But Tsukishima was being mean again. I don't like him."

"Why? What did he do this time?"

"He called me small. And Kageyama agreed!"

Suga bit his lip, stopping a smile from spreading. _You are small_.

"Don't worry, you will grow." He said instead, ruffling Shouyou's mop of orange hair, "Taller than Tobio too, maybe. If you eat right and do your homework."

"How is homework related, dad!"

"Well, did you do it?"

"Yes. I did." Shouyou pouted, "But it still isn't related to growing."

Suga laughed, holding his arm out to stop his son from walking as they reached a set of traffic lights.

"Then you should drink a lot of milk, too. I will get you some along the way home."

"Kageyama drinks a lot of milk." Shouyou said, almost thoughtfully, as the lights turned green and they continued on their way, "So maybe that's it."

"I suppose Tobio does. He must get that from his dad."

"Which one?"

"The annoying one."

Shouyou nodded, Suga's description making perfect sense.

 

Their apartment was tiny by any means. Suga could lie and say that the size was perfect for his small family, but even for just the two of them it was a squeeze. When Tobio stays the night every other week this only becomes more noticeable. Yet it could have been worse. They each had their own bedroom, a private space which was necessary, as well as a combined living room and kitchen and a boxed sized bathroom. It wasn't much, but it was home.

Suga kept his promise, and Shouyou rushed to the sofa to watch cartoons with a carton of milk, drinking it eagerly as he started on a quick dinner. Nightly routines were usually the same. A basic dinner using nutritious menus that Suga's mother helped him to create, and a small amount of time for Shouyou to play before putting him to bed with a story.

"I love you, dad." Shouyou said as Suga kissed him on the cheek, tucking him into the covers and turning off the lamp.

"I love you too, sweetie." Suga said, and he did. Even if it was not where he expected to be at his age, even if Shouyou was not planned, he was his whole world.

 

Suga returned to the living room and glanced at the clock. It was 8pm. The time of the day where he would get a few hours for himself to relax, rewind from the day or maybe catch up on some more work. He knew that somebody else would be doing the same, too. Grabbing his phone he sat on the sofa, launching the Line app and going straight to 'Tooru', before starting a call.

"Hey Kou-chan." Suga could hear a sip of what was probably a glass of red wine as the call connected, "Is this a crisis call or a gossip one?"

"Gossip."

"Oh, brilliant." Tooru said without a hint of sarcasm, as Suga could imagine him instantly reclining across his large sofa, "It's been a while. Entertain me."

"A new guy has started at work, and god Tooru, he is my type." Suga said, straight to the point, wondering if he should indulge in some wine too. These sort of phone calls always ended up being long.

"Now that is entertaining! What is he like?" Tooru said, voice instantly becoming more lively, "On a scale from 1 to instant boner-"

"Oi! Shittykawa, stop being so damn crude."

Iwaizumi's voice was heard faintly through the speaker, Suga chuckling at their usual style of arguing.

"Iwa-chan, so mean." Tooru's pout was audible, "And stop calling me that. My name isn't even Oikawa anymore."

"Then stop calling me 'Iwa-chan'. You're Iwaizumi too, now."

"But only you are the real Iwa-chan!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Suga coughed, more than a little exaggeratedly, into the receiver.

"Ah, so sorry Kou-chan that we were rudely interrupted," Tooru said, "So what are you going to do? Be your fabulous flirty self?"

"Hmm, I don't know." Suga said, closing his eyes, "He's in a different department to me. There's the usual welcome party this Friday but I can't go, so-"

"What do you mean you can't go to the party?" Tooru's voice was scandalised, "Of course you are going."

"It's my week to have the kids this Friday, it can't be helped."

"Well that can easily be changed, I will have Shouyou Friday night. Bingo, party arrangements sorted."

"You can't do that, you had him last week! I can't cause you so much trouble."

"Stop being silly, Kou-chan!" Tooru said in a sing-song voice, "It is no trouble. Especially when this is your big chance. You can just have Tobio for us next weekend instead."

"But still..."

"Oh my god, I can hear you overthinking from here. What's up?"

"Tooru, what is the biggest turn off for a man in their 20's?"

"Uh...genital warts?"

Suga burst out laughing before recomposing himself.

"A kid." He continued, reclining across his sofa, "No one is going to go for a 28 year old man who is already a single father to an energetic 7 year old. Who would want to commit themselves to the responsibility of another man's child? It's too late for me to have a relationship now."

"Kou-chan." Tooru's voice was stern, "Don't say that. Everyone is different, some people want a family young. We adopted Tobio-chan quite early."

Suga didn't mention how it was probably _too_ early. How much Tooru in particular struggled to adjust and cope at first.

"Even if they want their own family, it doesn't mean they want to join someone else's broken one."

"Koushi!"

Suga flinched.

"You really piss me off sometimes." Tooru continued, his voice harsh, "You are super positive and encouraging to everyone else, but ridiculously harsh and negative to yourself. Wake up."

"I don't even know if he is gay." Suga said weakly, trying to ignore his friend's comment.

"Even if he wasn't before, he would be with one look at you."

"Tooru."

"Sorry, sorry. Just a joke." Tooru said, sighing deeply, "Look, stop worrying about little details like that. Just go to the party, chat, charm him with your big, brown eyes and it'll all be fine. What's the worst that could happen?"

A lot of things, Suga thought, but refrained from making any more negative remarks as he finished the phone call. Maybe Tooru was right. He would never know if he didn't try first.

 

 

There was not many opportunities for Suga to associate with Daichi in the office, which he found unfortunate. They were in different departments, and although Suga would be required to submit reports to Daichi, he was not quite at the stage in his project where that would be necessary.

As he worked on his designs, a movement was caught out of the corner of his eye. Asahi had returned from the printer, clutching at a wad of paper. Suga could see the documents in Asahi's hands, a bunch of numbers and calculations splashed across the page. An idea flashed into his mind.

"Asahi, where are you taking that?"

"Ah, I had just finished the first design for the cafe floor, and need to submit this to Sawamura for a quick check."

"Good." Suga said, snatching the papers from Asahi's hands in a quick move, "I'm going instead."

"But Suga-"

"Go make yourself busy with something else. I'm sure you have lots more to do. In fact- make me a coffee."

"Suga, I'm not your personal coffee maker."

"What was that?"

Asahi groaned, reluctantly heading towards the coffee machine with hunched shoulders.

With the papers pressed to his chest as though it was gold, Suga headed to the finance department. To his relief Daichi was there, brows furrowed as he stared at his computer screen. He brushed himself down before grinning, pushing the documents onto the desk to make his presence known.

"Come to submit these!" He said, making sure Daichi was able to get a good look at his face before turning around, "Well, see you later."

"Wait, Suga!"

Suga stopped, looking over his shoulder with a swish of his grey hair.

"Do you have a minute?"

He tried not to let his feeling of success show on his face as he turned back towards Daichi, keeping his expression neutral.

"Sure?"

"About the priority system, can you go over what each of the colours mean again? Just to be certain as it is a bit different from the Osaka branch."

Daichi's face had slightly more colour to it than usual, his eyes not quite meeting Suga's gaze directly. Perfect.

"Mm, the red means the deadline is super close and this needs to be finished within the day." Suga said, leaning over the desk and looking at the documents with purposely pouted lips, "Pink is sort of urgent. 1 to 2 days is the norm for that. Yellow, 2 to 4 days, green a week." Suga lifted the corners of his mouth, allowing his tongue to trace the bottom of his lip slowly"But I recommend not letting it build up, you should always deal with things before it gets to that stage. I can help with that too, if you need me to."

Daichi coughed. Bingo.

"I won't keep you any longer. Keep working hard, Daichi!" Suga said, thumping him on the shoulder before returning to his own department, Daichi faintly stuttering out an encouragement of his own.

 

Snatching finance reports from his team members seemed to be Suga's latest hobby. There was always a look of surprise that came over each face, apart from Asahi who now simply rolled his eyes, as he 'volunteered' to deliver the report to 'take some of the pressure off the team'. This continued to the end of the week, even Daichi beginning to look amused with his appearances. 

"Suga. You don't need an excuse to come and see me, y'know." He said, something playful behind his words.

"I don't know what you mean?" Suga said, tilting his head to the side and trying to repress the heat he could feel rushing to his cheeks as he slowly slid the report onto the desk.

"The others told me you used to do anything you could to avoid coming to the finance department." Daichi continued, the now smirk on his face almost shit-eating, "Why the sudden change of heart?"

Who knew that sensible looking Sawamura Daichi could partake in the same game as him.

"I just thought I should face my weak points, and that is numbers." Suga said quickly.

"Uhuh."

Suga wanted out of this embarrassing situation as fast as he could.

"Sorry, I'm super busy right now so I have got to go."

Daichi laughed.

"See you at the party later, yeah?" His voice was hopeful.

"Yeah." Suga managed to breathe out, before rushing back to his desk, turning immediately to Asahi next to him.

"Was it that obvious?"

"Yeah..."

Suga groaned, slamming his head on the table.

"I am so embarrassed."

"Um, I don't think you need to be." Asahi did, sliding a polystyrene cup of coffee next to him, "Sawamura doesn't seem to mind it."

Suga could only hope that was true.

"Are you going to tell him about Shouyou?" Asahi asked, voice again quiet.

"I never do." Suga said, barely audible, "Only you and the boss know."

Asahi nodded, although his expression seemed conflicted, as though he had something more to say. Suga could guess what it was without knowing.

 

Suga did not move fast enough to get a seat next to Daichi in the izakaya where the party was being held. Instead, he settled for a place next to Asahi, the man instantly looking relieved at having a friend next to him. He didn't do well at these sorts of events. A round of beer was quickly ordered, and Ukai called a toast, before the drinking began. 'All you can drink' was both a blessing and a curse for office drinking parties.

Daichi didn't seem to drink as much as the everyone else, Suga included. Beer and sake seemed to be on a constant tap yet he seemed to keep himself grounded, not letting himself be caught up in the atmosphere. Probably wise, Suga thought, to prevent any mishaps from happening as the newcomer to the office.

The talk, however, did involve around Daichi. Everyone was curious to get to know him better and Suga tried to listen without seeming too eager. The topics started with the mundane before spreading to more interesting matters.

"In this room, who is closest to your type?"

Daichi's eyes flickered around the room, quickly surveying each person. His gaze landed on Suga, resting a beat too long, before dashing away again, leaving a breath stuck in his throat.

"I can't say that, it would be unfair."

Suga downed the last drops of his beer before leaning over and pressing the bell on the table to order another.

As always at that time of the evening when the party was finished, there was already a line of taxi's parked outside the izakaya waiting for drunken patrons to enter them. In his haze, Suga managed to organise the procession, making sure that everyone who worked under him got into one safely in groups heading in the same direction. After the last taxi left it was just him and Daichi remaining, one of them clearly more sober than the other.

"What about you, Suga?" Daichi's lips were pressed into a frown, "Shouldn't you call or hail your own taxi?"

"I can still make the last train, I'm fine." Suga said, although his head was fuzzy as he said it. But he could still stand, and walk just about, so he was certain that he could make it. Even though he couldn't make any guarantees about the walk back to his apartment from the station afterwards.

"I'm going to call you a taxi." Daichi's voice was firm as he pulled out his phone, glancing over at Suga as though he could fall down at any moment. Which honestly, he could.

"Don't do that." Suga whined, losing control of the sound of his voice as he pouted childishly, "I'm leaving."

He attempted to march towards the station. It was successful for a few steps, before he swayed to the left and almost lost his balance. There was a muttered curse before Daichi was by his side, wrapping Suga's thin arm around his shoulder to keep him steady.

"Wait with me. The taxi will be here soon."

"I'm not a kid." Suga pouted, despite being vaguely aware that he was acting like one.

"I want to make sure you get home safe, alright?" Daichi said, words slow, "Just like you did for everyone else."

"Fine."

They waited in silence for the taxi. At some point Daichi removed Suga's arm from his back, and his body began to feel cold although the night air was relatively warm. Just before he could consider attempting to cuddle into Daichi for warmth, the taxi arrived, Suga not sure whether to feel relieved or not.

"Thank you for waiting with me, Daichi!" He instead said brightly as the taxi door opened, "See you on Monday!"

Not waiting for Daichi's reply, Suga reached up onto tiptoes and planted a short kiss on the other man's lips, before jumping into the taxi.

 

 

Suga woke to a pounding headache and a fuzzy memory. He was in his bed, but fully dressed in the clothes he wore the previous night. _What had happened?_ While taking a couple of painkillers with a glass of water, Suga tried to cast his memory back when it hit him.

Suga kissed Daichi. He kissed the new employee in the office. Without permission.

Swearing loudly, Suga tried to make himself look decent before rushing out of the door. He was going to be late to collect his son again. Every Saturday Shouyou attended a children's volleyball class with Tobio, both families meeting at the gym before going for lunch afterwards. Suga would have a lot of explaining to do.

 

Daichi was always early to the office. Suga never was. Yet he made the effort this time to arrive earlier than usual the next Monday, hoping to seek Daichi out when there was nobody else around. He was lucky. The finance manager looked less awkward that Suga felt as their eyes met, Daichi waving his hand in a greeting.

"About last Friday night." Suga said, almost whispering, "I'm so sorry. I am not sure what came over me."

"I do." Daichi said, the corners of his lips twitching upwards, "It's called alcohol."

Suga exhaled with a small chuckle, some of his awkwardness vanishing.

"Well, yes." He said, "But it wasn't just that. Maybe."

What was he saying? Suga hoped Daichi would not read too much into his words, wanting to get this conversation quickly over with without making things more uncomfortable between them.

"Can we just forget I did that?"

"I didn't mind it, to be honest. It would be a shame to forget." Daichi said, the tips of Suga's ears beginning to burn, "But I would prefer to kiss you when you are sober."

Was that an invitation? It was a bold statement, at the very least. Suga decided that he could be equally as bold.

"We need to get to know each other better, first." Suga said, perching himself on the edge of Daichi's desk, "The next kiss needs to be harder earned."

"Just what I was thinking too." Daichi said, "At least the getting to know each other part."

"Yes. You could have a horrible personality."

"I...don't think I do?"

Suga grinned.

"I don't think you do either."

There was a slight pause before Daichi spoke again, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Do you like coffee?"

"I run off it."

"Then would you like to get some with me sometime after work?" Daichi said, stretching out his arms, "I really would like to get to know you more."

"My schedule is always pretty full on the evening." Suga said, letting the white lie slip effortlessly, "And weekends. But lunch times I can do."

"Then, how does tomorrow lunch time sound?"

"Sounds like a date."

Daichi reacted to the word with a smile which was everything Suga could hope for.

They exchanged Line ID's with a quick snap of a QR code, before Suga returned to his desk, exciting promises of a date and the guilt of a 7 year old secret locked into his mind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! :)  
> Wow, that chapter ended up being a lot longer than I intended it to be.  
> I hope you enjoyed it, and if you did, please let me know!


	2. Chapter 2

"Da-ad, you forgot to make your lunch!"

Suga paused in the doorway, turning to look at Shouyou who was hovering near their kitchen and gesturing wildly at the fridge.

Oh. So he could be observant on occasion.

"Ah, I'm going out for lunch today Shouyou. But thank you." Suga said, waving his son back over towards him.

"With Uncle Asahi?"

He looked hopeful, eyes wide as Suga gave him a slight nudge out of the front door.

"Er, yeah."

Shouyou didn't need to know the truth- not yet. He wasn't at all interested in his work, or who he worked with, anyway. Except in Asahi, for one sole reason.

"Good! Can you tell him to tell Noya-senpai to take me to play volleyball again?" Shouyou asked excitedly as they finally set off towards the station, "He can do this super cool rolling thing! He said he would show me again next time!"

"Sure." Suga said, unsure whether he felt sorry for Noya for babysitting Shouyou on the odd occasion, or for himself to have to deal with the aftermath of it, "I still don't see why you call him senpai, though."

"Because he likes it. It makes him go all gwaah."

"Um. Right."

They were only _slightly_ late to meet Tobio, this time. He could hear him complaining though, muttering to Shouyou to be on time tomorrow, as Suga quickly apologised to Iwaizumi for keeping him waiting before dashing to just make his train.

 

"What's the occasion?"

Suga frowned at Asahi as he arrived at the office and sat down near to him at his desk, raised eyebrows and an amused smile looking back at him. He scowled, taking a long sip of the fresh coffee already prepared in front of him.

"I don't know what you mean. I always like to look my best."

It was true that Suga was wearing one of his better fitting shirts, in a colour that brought out his eyes, along with his tightest work-suitable trousers. A combination he wouldn't usually wear. He may, or may not be, wearing the slightest hint of makeup, too.

Ignoring the snort that accompanied his comment, Suga leaned back on his chair and checked his phone. One new message. From Daichi. 

_'Meet in the lobby at 12?'_

Suga punched a quick reply, as he tried to remember how to breath properly, before stashing his phone back into his jacket pocket.

"Oh, so it was because of a date."

Asahi's presence could be felt behind him with needing to turn around. Suga resisted the urge to pout and took to trying to elbow his friend instead. He seemingly missed.

"Going out for lunch on our break together can hardly be thought of as a date." Suga scowled. For such a tall person, Asahi appeared to be particularly difficult to elbow.

"But you are clearly treating it as one."

Suga had no retort for that.

 

Today's lunch break did not arrive quick enough. The first few hours of the day seemed to last longer than usual, Suga unable to concentrate on the interior design for the cafe he was supposed to be working on. The second the clock hit 12 he grabbed his jacket and dashed for the elevator, not stopping to retaliate to the laugh he could hear coming from Asahi's desk.

Daichi was already waiting in the lobby.

He looked good. He always did. With thick thighs in trousers that rivalled the tightness of Suga's own and sun-kissed skin against a cream shirt, he looked every part his dream man as he stared down at his phone. When he noticed Suga's arrival he raised his head, smiling widely.

Dates always made Suga nervous, and this was one of the reasons why. He took a deep breath, fixing his own smile, before hurrying over to him.

"Sorry! Did I keep you waiting?"

"No, I just got here myself." Daichi said. Suga had forgot the deliciously deep tone of his voice, and the sudden reminder of it was wonderful, "Shall we go?"

 

The cafe that Suga had chosen was not the closest to the office, just in case other colleagues were there to interrupt their peace, but was not a far distance either. The ambience was good, not too busy, but enough bustle so that they could relax without standing out.

"Shall we order coffee first?" Daichi suggested as they arrived, Suga agreeing eagerly.

As he went to the counter to order drinks, Suga secured their seats, settling himself into a corner near the window. Daichi returned a short while after, carrying a tray with their coffee.

"Order whatever you like." Daichi said, laying down their cups and passing Suga a menu as he took the seat opposite him, "It's my treat."

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly-"

"Let me." Daichi smiled, "I was the one who asked you out. I want to pay."

Suga bit his lip but hesitantly agreed, scrolling down at the prices on the menu to try and find the cheapest items.

"So, you are from Osaka. Right?" He started the conversation as he took a long sip of his coffee.

"Yeah. It is slightly calmer than Tokyo. Just by a bit, though."

"I have only been to Osaka once. Last year." Suga mused, "But that was just to Uni-"

"Universal Studios?" Daichi suggested, mouth curved into a smile.

"Bingo." Suga laughed, "My best friend was begging me to go with him for the Harry Potter attraction. I went with him, his family and-" _My son_. Suga realised what he was going to say and coughed, quickly changing his response, "His son."

"Doesn't his son count as his family?" Daichi teased, with a quick wink.

"Shh." Suga said, leaning over the table and placing his finger on Daichi's lips.

They were warm and surprisingly moist, Suga having to remove his finger quickly before he could think about them too much.

" _Anyway_ ," He continued, trying to smoothly change the topic, "I did eat takoyaki. So I sort of had the Osaka experience."

"I disagree." Daichi said, taking a sip of his own coffee, "I will need to give you a full tour some day."

"I will look forward to it."

Suga knew that vague plans like that rarely came to fruition, but he could not help but feel a well of excitement at the thought.

"That's enough about me." Daichi said, folding his menu onto the table, "I want to know more about you, too, Suga."

"Hm? What do you want to know?" Suga mimicked Daichi's action, resting his chin on his palm, "I'm not that interesting."

"Now that can't be true. You are definitely interesting."

"Really?" Suga reopened his menu, trying to avoid both the subject and eye contact, "I think I want to order the tortilla wrap. If that's okay?"

Daichi frowned, peering over at the menu.

"I think that's supposed to be super spicy."

"Perfect." Suga grinned and Daichi raised his eyebrow.

"You like spicy food?"

"I love it."

"What other food do you like?"

"Is this an interview, Daichi?" Suga twirled a strand of his fringe around his finger as he lowered his voice with newly regained confidence, "I will only allow one more question. Then I get to interview you, too."

Daichi seemed to think for a moment, making a deep humming sound, before he spoke.

"What are your hobbies?"

Hobbies? What were his hobbies? A slight flash of panic entered his mind as he tried to think. He enjoyed going to the park with Shouyou, playing and being creative with him. What parts of life didn't involve around Shouyou, now? How did he enjoy spending his time before he came along? He could barely remember.

Suga swallowed.

"I like scary stuff, I guess. Games, movies, just the usual things." He spoke quickly, standing from his seat, "Shall we order the food now?" He added before Daichi could comment on his answer.

The rest of the 'date' went smoothly. Daichi was a good talker and responded well to Suga's humour, not minding when he went down a strange direction on a topic. His initial nerves had soon faded and he found himself relaxing in Daichi's safe presence. 

"We better start heading back." Suga said reluctantly, looking at the time on his watch. Their break time was almost over and Ukai was terrifying when he was angry. Daichi nodded, beginning to put on his jacket.

"Same thing tomorrow?"

Suga was worried that this could become a habit. Something he would get addicted to. Going to lunch with Daichi, making fun conversation, and losing himself in the other man. He couldn't say no.

"Mm, I'm not sure." He said instead, looking up at Daichi through his long eyelashes with a mock pout, "If you say that I might think that you like me."

"Oh, no, it's just for my own safety." Daichi said, clearly playing along, "It's better than subjecting the whole finance department to your dreadful attempt at flirting."

The heat rushed to Suga's cheeks as his mouth hung open wide.

"I'm not a dreadful flirt!"

"Well, you started off okay, but then you became too obvious." Daichi held his hands up in front of his face as Suga began to stutter a reply, "Don't worry! I didn't mind it. Although the others in the department were prone to teasing me."

"I'm so embarrassed." Suga groaned, covering his face in his hands.

A firm grip was placed on his wrist, lowering his hands as deep brown eyes stared into him.

"I said I didn't mind it, right?" Daichi's voice was low, speaking to him in a tone as though they were the only ones in the room, "You don't need to stop."

A shiver ran down Suga's spine, his shoulders shaking slightly as though to try and stop it.

"Alright, let's go."

Daichi was already heading towards the door, leaving Suga to catch up to him.

Suga was falling into this deeply.

 

They went out for lunch together every day that week. Shouyou had stopped asking where his lunch was by Wednesday, and although it had become another minor strain on his finances as they began splitting the bill, Suga decided it was more than worth it. He had only known Daichi for two weeks, but he was already becoming an important part of his daily routine, which in some ways was a frightening thought. Suga was getting to know Daichi closer, while keeping a barrier on his own personal life.

By Friday, this had somewhat exhausted him.

 

Friday nights when Tobio stayed over were always more stressful, through no fault of the boy. Suga always had to remember to get more food, especially milk, and prepare the futon on the limited floor space of Shouyou's room. But he did not mind the apartment being livelier, the difference was refreshing.

"Uncle Koushi, can you give me some setting advice?"

Tobio called towards Suga who was finishing the dishes as the children were drawing what was supposedly volleyball uniforms at the table.

"Always so serious, aren't you?" Suga grinned, going over to pat Tobio on the head who looked slightly awkward with the affection, "I am sure Tooru can teach you everything much better than I can. He is a coach, after all."

"Dad usually refuses to teach me." Tobio said, his eyes becoming sad, "He laughs and says 'no way Tobio-chan', and sticks out his tongue or something like that."

"Well he is just a meanie then."

"But I want to be a good setter like Dad." Tobio said, clutching his pencil tighter, "And you." He added quickly. Suga repressed his laugh- the difference between himself and Tooru was too great, but it was nice that Tobio was so polite.

"At your age you should practice to get good skills at everything, including receives and spikes too. Not just setting." Suga said, deciding that sounded like good advice to give.

"Hinata needs to practice receiving more." Tobio took a long sip of his milk carton before turning to Shouyou who was concentrating on his picture, "Because you suck."

"Kageyama!" Shouyou wailed, shooting his best friend the dirtiest glare, "Dad! Kageyama is being mean!"

Suga rolled his eyes, bopping them both on the head with a nearby newspaper.

"Both of you, shh. Play nicely."

It wasn't long before it was the children's bedtime, Suga tucking both of them in bed with a kiss and a silent prayer that they would not stay up too late talking like they tended to do. He quickly mailed Tooru to let him know Tobio was in bed and okay, before pouring himself a glass of wine and carrying it to his bedroom.

Suga was careful to leave the door open a crack, showing it was okay to come in if he was needed. Although they were now thankfully infrequent, Tobio still got nightmares about his life before he was adopted. They were intense each time.

To his relief, no nightmares occurred that night. The morning went just as well, too. Suga dropped the boys off at their volleyball practice before both families met afterwards and decided to spend some time together at the local park.

"So, how was the hot date with hunky?"

Trust Tooru to remember that. The children were playing with Iwaizumi in the park, leaving him to watch the bags with Tooru on a nearby bench. Suga considered not responding to the question before realising he actually did want to talk about it.

"I really think I like him."

"Well, yeah." Tooru said drily as he slouched across the park bench, "Anyone could tell that."

Suga sighed. He was clearly in one of his moods.

"I'm not sure it's a good thing." Suga continued slowly, flicking his eye towards Shouyou who was happily playing.

"Why not?"

"Because it will just hurt more when it all vanishes."

"Koushi!" Tooru was glaring, face locked into an expression that Suga hated to be on the receiving end of. His mood really was worse than usual.

"Up until now it always has."

Tooru pursed his lips, and Suga knew that he could not deny it. He had not dated _many_ men since Shouyou came into his life, but the few he did had all left as soon as they learned of a child.

"At least it would have been fun while it lasted."

"No."

"No?" Suga raised his eyebrows.

"I have a good feeling about this one." Tooru said, folding his arms across his chest.

"Tooru, you haven't even met him."

"So? I just have a good feeling!" He continued, voice raising to a higher volume than Suga would have liked, "We have Shouyou next Friday, so why don't you ask thighs out that night?" Tooru suggested.

That was a good idea. Suga usually spent that time relaxing alone or catching up with some of his other friends; but a date with Daichi, a proper date, was a good idea.

"Maybe you could even tell him about Shouyou then, too?"

Suga shook his head. That he couldn't do. He wasn't ready.

"It's best to tell him earlier." Tooru said quietly, almost sounding gentle.

Suga knew.

 

"Dad! Come and set for me!"

Shouyou was yelling from across the park where a 2 vs 2 match was being arranged, Iwaizumi and Tobio standing ready on the opposite side of the child sized net to him.

"That's our cue." Suga said, stretching his legs as he stood up.

"I guess it can't be helped!" Tooru said, swinging his long legs off the bench, "I will come and set for you too, my lovely Tobio-chan."

"We don't need you." Tobio said, clutching the volleyball closer to his chest, "I'm going to be the setter and toss to Dad."

There was a long pause, Suga cringing inwardly.

"Only I can set to Iwa-chan." Tooru muttered, locking his lips in a tight pout.

"Jesus, Tooru." Suga said, rolling his eyes, "Don't tell me you are jealous of your own son now?"

"He's going to be a really good setter some day." Tooru's voice didn't seem as pleased as it should be, "Better than I was."

"Which you should be happy about."

Suga never received a reply to that statement, as Tooru bounded off towards the game yelling something about being the referee.

 

Monday morning returned quickly, the weekend passing in a blur. Suga did not need to seek out Daichi at work, not when they had already made plans to eat their usual lunch together. He waited to the end of their meal, talking himself into saying the words that were struggling to come out. Why was it so hard?

"I am free Friday night." Suga said, twisting his hands in front of his body, "I was wondering if we could go out somewhere? Maybe a classic dinner and movie affair?"

"I would love to." Daichi said, his smile dizzying.

 

Suga wished the rest of the week passed as quickly as the weekend but it seemed to drag, the days until Friday almost increasing. Yet the evening eventually came, Suga determined to make his first 'real date' with Daichi a success.

The movie was alright. It wasn't the best Suga had seen that year, but the company made up for it completely. They were both standing outside the entrance of the building with only the chilly night air surrounding them, 20 minutes remaining until Suga's last train.

"Tonight was good." He admitted, "Really good. I'd like to do it again sometime, if it is okay?"

"Of course it's okay." Daichi said, reaching out and giving Suga's shoulder a small squeeze, "I had a good time, too."

This was the time to say goodbye. Suga inhaled, preparing to announce he needed to make his train and leave, before Daichi spoke again.

"Have I earned that kiss yet?"

The breath Suga just took became stuck in his throat.

"Hmm, well I don't usually kiss people this quickly." Suga said quickly, rocking on his heels as he suddenly became restless. He really wanted to kiss him.

"Are you sure? Because I seem to recall-"

"Don't mention that!" Suga groaned, whacking Daichi lightly on the arm as he chuckled lowly at the response, "Like I was _saying_ , they need to be a really special person. Do you think that applies to you?"

Daichi shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm not sure, but I am certain it applies to you."

"Now you are playing unfair." Suga muttered, his face becoming unbearably hot.

"No more than you are."

"Ugh." Suga said rolling his eyes, before rising onto his tiptoes and placing both of his hands on the sides of Daichi's head and bringing him down for a light kiss. 

Their lips barely touched, the kiss more of a fleeting brush before parting. It was not enough to be satisfying, Suga craving to taste Daichi further and learn how he felt against him.

Daichi seemed to feel the same, the corner of his lips turning upwards.

"Can I ask for one more?"

"Just one?"

Suga grinned before pulling Daichi down into a deeper kiss, enough to forget about the world moving around him. Strong arms held him close, pulling him into a toned body as their lips moved together. Daichi tasted sweet, caramel from the popcorn on his tongue, as they wrapped together, small sounds swallowed between them.

His train didn't really matter, anyway.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! :)  
> The positive response I got last chapter made me so happy, and encouraged me to keep writing, so thank you!  
> Also, I had to mention Osaka because I live there! Love Osaka!
> 
> Once again, thank you! And if you enjoyed it please let me know. :)


	3. Chapter 3

"Your boyfriend came by earlier." Asahi said lightly, as Suga returned from a meeting with their clients. He surprisingly did not flinch after Suga gave him a murderous gaze, "He left these documents for you to look over."

"He's not my boyfriend." Suga said, flopping into his chair and picking up one of the papers before scanning it lazily. He still hated looking at numbers.

"Not yet, you mean." 

Dating Daichi was by far the best thing that had happened to Suga in recent years. Single dates quickly passed into over a month of dating, the summer stickiness that remained in September fading as it changed to October. Eating out for lunch had now decreased to only once a week, but 'office picnics' were common, and they went out for an evening date every other Friday.

As selfish as it sounded, Suga could not help but want to spend more time with Daichi and further enjoy the feel of his strong arms wrapped around him and soft lips pressing at his skin. Although his personality was generally more serious than Suga's, the time spent together was full of laughs and Daichi was undeniably his dream man.

Suga had fallen for him hard.

"He also said to meet in the lobby at 12." Asahi continued, looking over at Suga with a rare playful look, "His treat, apparently. Aren't you lucky."

"I'm supposed to tease you, not the other way around." Suga pouted, "How's your middle school boyfriend?"

"Suga!" Asahi wailed, his face immediately flushing. _That was better_. "Don't say that out loud, people will get the wrong idea!"

"You sure it's not the right one? I mean, have you actually _seen_ Nishinoya's ID for evidence that he isn't 15?"

"You've seen it yourself!"

 

Thankfully the half an hour before noon passed quickly by teasing Asahi, although Suga could not have called it a productive use of his time. As soon as the clock rang he grabbed his scarf, jacket and bag and all but raced to the elevator. He did not want to waste any of his precious time with Daichi.

Suga arrived first, for a change, yet only had to wait moments before the elevator door was opening again and Daichi strode out waving as he approached.

"Isn't it still a bit too warm for scarves?"

Daichi tugged on the thin material wrapped around Suga's neck, eyebrows raised. He shrugged, refastening it properly.

"I feel the cold easily."

"Really?" Stepping closer, Daichi raised his palm to Suga's forehead and pressed it against his skin firmly, "You're not coming down with anything?"

"I'm fine." Suga forced the words out, sure that his skin was definitely heating up now, "But thank you for caring."

"Don't thank me, taking care of your health is important."

"You're such an old man sometimes," Suga laughed, nudging him with his elbow, "Old man Daichi."

"Oi, says the 28 year old man with the maturity of a teenager." Daichi said with a grin, linking his arm around Suga's as they started their walk towards the cafe.

"Take that back!" Suga opened his mouth wide in mock scandal, "How do you know my age, anyway?"

"Your office ID. You're older than me."

"No way..." This time Suga's shock was not faked, "By how much?"

"Around 6 months."

"Wow, that really is too much." Suga said, relaxing at the irrelevance of the difference, "Maybe I need to become your sugar daddy instead?"

"Suga-daddy you mean?"

Suga believed the whack to the shoulder that Daichi received was earned. 

Being with Daichi took him right out of 'father mode' and he could allow his real personality to come through, which was something that Suga needed occasionally. Yet Shouyou was not someone he either could or wanted to forget. His son played on their mind as their food arrived at their tables, coffee cups already half empty.

The longer Suga spent with Daichi, the harder it was becoming to tell him the truth, to tell him that the man he was getting to know was only revealing half of himself while concealing the rest. Suga was getting tired of battling with guilt daily and stalling the eventual. Maybe he just needed to start slowly.

Pushing his now empty cup away from him, Suga took a deep breath. 

"Daichi, what do you think about children?"

There was a slight sputter as Daichi tried to swallow his drink, taking the straw away from his mouth as he was unable to contain his laughter.

"Wow, don't you think it is _way_ to early to be thinking about that, Suga?"

Suga froze, his entire body beginning to ache. He couldn't sit there any longer, each laugh sending another pain into his chest.

"Yeah, you're right." He said quickly, grabbing his bag as he launched himself from his seat, "I need to head back early today, got some designs I need to finish."

"Hey, Suga, wait-"

"I'll speak to you soon." Suga said, just managing to kiss Daichi on the cheek before rushing from the cafe back towards the office.

What the hell was he thinking? Anyone who would be asked that question would take it in one of either two ways; as a joke or be immediately scared off by it. Suga was an idiot.

He rubbed at his eyes as he approached the building, trying to compose himself.

 

"If Daichi comes over, I'm not here."

Asahi looked up from his computer, staring at Suga with a concerned expression.

"What happened?" He all but whispered, face pale.

"Nothing." Suga said, beginning to gather up all the documents he needed into his arms immediately. He didn't want Asahi to take a proper look at his face. "Just the usual."

"You told him about Shouyou?"

Now his voice really sounded concerned, a soft undertone to his usually deep sound.

"No, no. Not that." Suga stood with an arm full of papers, trying to take calming breaths, "I can't work here right now. I'm going to one of the spare cubicles. I'm not telling you which one."

"Suga, think about this. Running away will-"

"I am thinking, Asahi!" Suga hated raising his voice, some of the others in the office turning around to the noise. They both cringed and he dropped his voice. "I'm sorry, I just need to go. I have my phone, so if Ukai needs something from me send me a message."

 

Suga was lucky that there were spare cubicles in their office which were permitted to be used by managers when they needed more space. He had never needed to use them before, but this was as hidden from Daichi as Suga could possibly be without physically leaving his work.

Focusing on finalising the part of the design project he was working on, Suga did not hear footsteps come closer to his desk.

"So this is where you were hiding."

Panic rose up Suga's throat as he recognised the voice immediately, leaping from his seat.

"I'm not hiding." He said quickly, not looking into Daichi's gaze, "I'm sorry, Ukai is calling me so-"

As Suga tried to walk past, Daichi grabbed his wrist, preventing him from moving any further.

"You've been avoiding me." He said in a low voice, his grip on Suga's wrist becoming gentler as he stopped making efforts to struggle.

"No I haven't."

"Please don't lie to me." Daichi continued, eyes looking pained as he finally looked up which only causing Suga to feel even worse than he did before. If only he knew the extent of his lies. "Azumane is not good at hiding things when asked. You have been avoiding me."

"Sorry."

Daichi sighed, letting go of Suga entirely and scratching at the back of his neck.

"Is it about what I said earlier, when you asked about children?"

"Why would it be?"

Suga needed to learn to stop lying.

"Because you dashed out of the cafe as though your pants were on fire afterwards?" Daichi said, trying to force a smile.

"I see." 

"Now I am heading closer to 30, instead of dating around I am looking for someone who I can have a long term outlook with." Daichi said, an awkward chuckle accompanying his words. "So I guess questions like that aren't so weird. Not if you are looking for the same thing and want to see if we are compatible in many ways. I'm sorry for laughing."

Was that what Suga was looking for? He wasn't sure.

"It's okay." He said, trying to bring his usual cheeriness into his voice with a stretched grin, "I really shouldn't have asked so suddenly."

"Well to answer your question, I like children." Daichi said simply, "I would definitely want some one day."

One day. That was a typical answer, Suga thought. Vague, ambiguous, but not completely impossible to work with. Suga did not want to try to read into it too much.

"Are we okay?" Daichi asked quietly, his voice seeming more vulnerable that Suga had ever heard it.

"Yeah." He nodded, regaining some of his confidence, "We're okay."

"Good."

Daichi looked around them quickly before pecking Suga on his lips. Both of them smiled as they parted, some of the tension in the air leaving.

"How about we go out somewhere tomorrow?" Daichi asked, still being cautious of any extra ears that could be around them, "It would be nice to spend some time together during the day where we don't need to worry about the time."

"Ah, I'm sorry." Suga said, eyes casting downwards, "I'm busy tomorrow."

"You always seem to be busy." Daichi frowned, speaking in an unusual tone where Suga could not tell whether he was joking or not, "How far in advance do I need to book your time?"

"Hmm...Maybe around 8 years?"

They both laughed, Suga only wishing that it was a joke.

 

That evening Suga's hands were too full to worry about his developing relationship with Daichi. With Tobio staying the night it was taking his effort to keep the two kids under enough control to not receive any noise complaints from the neighbours.

They had finished their dinner and the boys were playing 'Mario Kart' before bed, taunts flying across the room quicker than the onscreen cars. Suga sighed, reaching for the remote and turning down the volume of the television, not that it helped.

"Hey, did the two of you finish your homework?"

"I'll do it tomorrow." They answered simultaneously, sharing glares at the same response.

Suga rolled his eyes.

"No you won't. Finish this last race then do it right now."

"Dad, no!" Shouyou yelled, gripping the controller tighter, "I'm finally winning Kageyama!"

"Shouyou, that's not proper grammar. And yes, you will stop unless you want me to ban the game entirely."

"You're only winning because I am letting you win, idiot." Kageyama shouted, both boys seemingly ignoring Suga's warning.

"No you're not!" Shouyou whined, "Just admit I am better!"

"Your dads will be super mad if you don't do your homework, Tobio." Suga said, cutting through their argument and putting his hands on his hips, "And so will I. With both of you."

That seemed to do the trick, both boys putting down the controllers and pulling their drill books from their rucksacks without another grumble, before starting on their homework.

 

"Uncle Koushi?"

"Mm?"

"Hinata thinks that you write this kanji like this, but it is like _this,_ right?"

"Let me take a look."

Suga walked over to the boys and peered over the table, watching as they both attempted to write the character for 'school', groaning slightly as they finished.

"Well, you are both wrong." He said, "But Tobio, you were closer."

"Yes!" Tobio cheered, the other's face becoming instantly crestfallen.

"But I have always wrote it like this." Shouyou said, folding his arms moodily and planting his face on the table.

Suga bit his lip, ruffling his son's soft hair affectionately.

"Sweetie, can I see your book?"

Shouyou wordlessly handed over his drill book and Suga flicked through it with pursed lips. The pages were filled with red pen where his teacher had corrected his strokes, more characters wrong then they were right. He knew that Shouyou wasn't the best academically, but this was slightly worse than what Suga had thought. Casting his mind back, Suga could not even remember the last time he had helped his son with his homework. Guilt overcame him instantly.

"Shouyou, let's finish this together. Alright?" He said, sitting down with the children at the table and putting the book between them, "Tobio, you watch too. This is how you write it."

How was Suga allowing himself to focus on romance when his son was struggling and he did not even notice? He was a father first, and always. That was what was important.

 

Suga was still trying to think the same way in the morning. He had dropped the children off at their volleyball practice, meeting with the Iwaizumi's for brunch and 'adult talk' until it was over. The desire to become closer to Daichi could not be shook easily, their conversation topic in the cafe quickly switching to that.

"I love the way Daichi makes me feel." Suga admitted, the undivided attention from his friends intense, "But I really don't see how we can maintain this. He says he is thinking of a long term outlook, but I..."

"Kou-chan, you need to think of a long term outlook too." Tooru said, and Suga could see he was choosing his words carefully, "Not just for you, but for Shouyou as well. Is Daichi someone who you can see being a father figure to your son?"

"A father figure? What?" Suga said, unable to stop his voice from raising, "Shouyou doesn't need a father figure. I'm his father, he has me."

Tooru and Iwaizumi shared a look, one that made Suga feel uncomfortable, before Tooru exhaled slowly.

"You're right. He does. And you are an amazing father. You don't need any help." He said, talking slowly, "But if you are going to be in a relationship then you would be raising Shouyou together."

"If you marry, and I know this is becoming extremely hypothetical here," Iwaizumi added, "Then you would be living together as a family. This Sawamura would have a say in decisions regarding Shouyou too. It's just a fact."

" _Iwa-chan._ " Tooru hissed, elbowing his husband, "Can't you put things a better way?"

"What? I'm just telling the truth Shittykawa."

"Yeah, but-"

They stopped when they noticed the expression on Suga's face, an awkward silence falling over them.

"This new dessert on the menu looks good, yeah?" Iwaizumi suddenly said, nudging the menu towards them, "You both have a sweet tooth."

"You're right Iwa-chan, it looks so yummy!" Tooru said too loudly, "Let's order it, will you treat us?"

"Just this once, alright?"

Suga did not have any interest in a new dessert. The words from his friends were ringing in his mind. He was focusing on hiding Shouyou from Daichi so much, worrying about him letting go of Suga as soon as he found out the truth, that he forgot the implications of being in a relationship on his family as a whole.

It wasn't just their compatibility that mattered, and if Daichi cared if he had a son or not. Was it even possible for someone else to love Shouyou enough to raise him with love and affection too when they weren't related? Of course it was, Tooru and Iwaizumi had adopted Tobio, and they loved him endlessly, no different to if they were related by blood. But that was different, right?

Suga had been so naive.

"Oi, Sugawara."

Iwaizumi's voice brought him back into the room, a tempting looking cheese cake placed in front of him.

"You better eat it now I have bought it."

"Thanks, you didn't have to." Sugawara said, trying to sound grateful as he cut off a piece with his fork and brought it to his mouth. Despite his lack of appetite, it tasted good. He sighed, placing the fork back onto the plate.

"Maybe I should cancel our next date."

"No!" Iwaizumi and Tooru echoed, both of them looking annoyed at the other for syncing their words. Suga tried not to laugh. They reminded him so much of their children.

"If you don't go on the date I won't have Shouyou for a month, as punishment." Tooru said, pointing his finger accusingly with an evil glint in his eye. Suga, however, could play at that game too.

"But then I won't have Tobio either, so all your wild sex adventures would have to wait."

Iwaizumi looked horrified, turning his attention to Tooru immediately with the biggest scowl Suga had ever seen.

"How much do you tell him, Shittykawa!"

"Only the best bits!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't worry, I don't kink shame." Suga said with a wink towards Iwaizumi as Tooru snorted into his drink.

"Anyway, you can't distract us from the real issue here. Seriously, go on the date." Tooru said after he had recovered from the joke, his voice losing all of his lightheartedness, "It will be good for you. I know how much you wanted to find a romantic partner, so don't push Daichi away."

"It is okay for you to have fun and fall in love too, y'know." Iwaizumi said, squeezing Tooru's hand. His husband was seemingly forgiven. "If you are happy, Shouyou will be happy too."

 

Suga did not cancel their date the following Friday evening.

After a short game of bowling where Suga had discovered Daichi was just as competitive as he was, they had gone to a bar in Ikebukuro. The bright city lights were still in full force as they left. Suga didn't trust himself with alcohol in his system so had just one drink, Daichi matching his pace.

They walked towards the nearest subway entrance with their arms linked, Daichi suddenly stopping before they reached the staircase.

"My roommate is away for the weekend." He said with a slight cough, hands fiddling with the cuff of his shirt, "Would you like to come over for coffee?"

"For coffee?" Suga repeated, nudging him in the side with a slight grin and raised eyebrows.

"For coffee." Daichi confirmed, the shake in his voice now vanished.

"Okay, sure." Suga said, his heart racing with the clear invitation, "I do love coffee."

 

"Well, it's a lot cleaner than I expected it."

Suga said as he entered Daichi's small apartment. It was bigger than his own, but not huge, the signs that two men lived here clear from the decor.

"Take a seat anywhere." Daichi said, trying to push a pile of empty beer cans out of sight inconspicuously.

There wasn't much choice of seating so Suga sat on the worn sofa which had definitely seen better days, the oversized cushions uncomfortable against his back. A moment later Daichi joined him, tangling his fingers into the hair on the back of Suga's head as he leaned in for a kiss.

Suga kissed back eagerly, placing his hand on Daichi's thigh and moving his fingers in small circles. He moaned lowly into the kiss, his mouth opening and allowing Suga's tongue to push in, sampling the slightly bitter taste which he could only describe as Daichi.

The need for air caused them to pull away. Daichi looked ready to dive in again immediately, expression already slightly glazed and cheeks rose red, but Suga leaned backwards and smoothed down his clothes.

"Aren't you going to make the coffee?" He asked, trying to blink innocently at Daichi, "That's why you invited me over, right? Unless there was a different reason..."

Daichi's mouth opened into a small 'o' shape, almost looking confused with the question.

"I only have instant, if that's alright?" He said eventually, sparing a glance towards the kitchen counter.

"Instant? Ugh, such a let down, Daichi." Suga said with an exaggerated sigh, shuffling closer to Daichi again and replacing his hand on his thigh, "But I guess if that is the only thing you have to give me, I will take it."

"You do this on purpose, don't you?" Daichi groaned. Suga grinned.

"Do what?"

He didn't give Daichi a chance to respond before he threw himself onto his lap, legs wrapping around his waist as he pulled himself flush against his body before kissing him hard.

Suga could not remember the last time he had done this. His body seemed to be oversensitive and reacting with every touch as Daichi ran his fingertips across the curve of his back. Hips moving in slow motions, Suga grinded himself against Daichi's thigh, biting his lip as his head fell backwards. Teeth and lips assaulted his exposed skin immediately, nipping and sucking a pattern down to his Adam's apple where Suga could not help but let out a low whine.

He could feel both of them becoming hard, Suga trying to bring himself closer to rubbing against Daichi's erection with each movement, the firm muscle of his thigh not satisfying enough.

"Suga." Daichi's voice was gruffer than usual, his hands lowering down to cup Suga's ass as he began to squeeze the flesh there, "Shall we move this to my bedroom?"

"Yeah." He breathed out, making no efforts to leave Daichi's lap, continuing to grind against him with small sounds leaving his mouth.

With a groan that shifted into a small laugh, Daichi secured his grip below Suga's ass, beginning to stand up with him in tow.

"Oh no, Daichi. You can't pick me up." Suga said quickly as he realised what was happening, trying to wiggle in Daichi's grip, "I am much too heavy, I'm a grown man, hey!"

"Don't worry, you're not that heavy." Daichi said, although the slight wheeze in his words counteracted that.

He carried Suga to his small bedroom, lowering him down onto the bed as he stretched his back before beginning to undress himself. Suga swallowed, watching as items of clothing were removed from Daichi's body before beginning to undress himself.

Suga was not the most body confident, especially standing next to Daichi whose full extent of his muscular torso became apparent as his shirt was removed, but he could barely care while Daichi was looking at him the way he was.

"You're beautiful." He said, an extra heat spreading through his body.

"And you're...wow." Suga inched a step closer, unable to stop his hands from reaching out, "Can I touch you?"

"Yeah." Daichi breathed, before Suga's hands met with the firm muscle of his chest. He danced his fingers across his nipples earning a muted gasp, before tracing the lines of muscle down to his abdomen.

"Don't stop kissing me Daichi." Suga whispered, running his hands lower down his body, "Don't you dare."

That seemed to be the only permission Daichi needed before Suga was pushed down, back slamming against the bed as a firm weight straddled him. Lips hot against his skin, Suga cursed as he felt a firm hand grab his cock and begin to jerk him, strokes slow and firm.

"How do you usually like to do this?" Daichi groaned against his ear before giving the lobe a quick lick, "Top or bottom?"

"I don't _know_ , either." Suga moaned, arching into the attention against his cock and trying to thrust deeper into Daichi's fist.

"What do you want right now?" Daichi almost stuttered the question, his fist starting to work both of their cocks together, their mixed fluids spreading down their lengths.

"I want you inside me," Suga was panting, moving his hips faster and thrusting off the bed as lust overcame all of his senses, "I need you inside me right now Daichi, _fuck_ , so badly."

Daichi groaned. His hands left his cock, leaving Suga thrusting wantonly into midair. He fell against the sheets, breathing heavy as he waited. The sound of a drawer opening told Suga all he needed to know.

"Open your legs for me."Daichi murmured, easing Suga's legs wider with his words.

Suga was prepared with gentle hands from a strong man. It was what he expected from Daichi, especially for their first time, as he was always caring and attentive towards Suga, the bedroom seemingly no different. The lubricant felt cold and slightly weird against his hole, but the feeling of Daichi's fingers pressing deep inside him making up for it.

"Tell me if it's too much." Daichi said, his only warning, before he began pushing himself into Suga, the girth of his cock stretching him open.

Head thrown back in a silent scream, Suga wrapped his hands tighter onto Daichi's back, nails digging into his skin. Daichi hissed slightly, before pushing in all the way, balls pressed against Suga's skin.

"Say when I can move." He said, although he was already moving, body twitching in small half thrusts.

Suga gave himself a few moments to steady his breathing, and to adjust to the size inside him. The sensation was almost overwhelming, just the thought of having Daichi pressed so close into him almost enough to make him come.

He opened his eyes, long enough to take in the sweat drenched forehead and lust glazed eyes of the man above him, before he managed to grin.

"Give it to me Daichi." "Make me scream."

And Daichi did. Pulling out almost all the way before thrusting back in one hard stroke, Daichi set a hard pace from the beginning. Torso's pressed together as Daichi panted into Suga's neck, hips moving like a piston against his body. Suga tried his best to match the pace, fingers imprinting onto Daichi's back with his grip.

It didn't last long for him.

Suga came with a cry of Daichi's name and a curse, shooting onto his stomach where it cooled uncomfortably onto his skin. He tried to catch his breath before he was flipped onto his side, one leg hoisted up as Daichi continued to thrust into him in rhythm-less strokes.

"C'mon." Suga groaned, eyes fluttering open to watch him fall apart, "You can do it, come for me Daichi. C'mon baby..."

The thrusts stopped as Daichi buried himself impossibly deep inside Suga with a loud grunt, twitching as he filled the condom he was wearing. He pulled out a short while later, Suga's chest rising and falling heavily the euphoria slowly began to leave his system.

 

They were both too tired for a shower. Daichi brought a flannel to wipe them both down half-heartedly before climbing into his bed, Suga lying down on top of the sheets next to him with the hands intertwined.

"Suga, actually, I have been thinking." Daichi's grip on Suga's hand tightened as he visibly tensed, "We have been dating for a little while now, and I have really enjoyed being with you. I would like to take things to the next step."

"What, a further step than hot sex?" Suga said, trying his best to sound jokey. He knew what the next words would be, and already knew how he was forced to answer them.

"Yeah. I would like to be in a relationship with you."

How Suga wanted to say yes. He really did. But he couldn't, not when Daichi still did not know about Shouyou. Suga still could not find the words to tell him, not when he didn't want nights like these to end.

"Daichi." He said instead, "I'm sorry, I can't. Not yet."

Disappointment flashed across Daichi's features, brows knitting together.

"Was it too fast for you?"

"I just need some time." Suga said, fidgeting with the sheets below them, "Is that alright?"

"Take all the time you need." Daichi said, leaning over to press a light kiss to his cheek, "My offer won't change."

If only that was true.

Suga's gaze turned to their clothes jumbled together on the floor, the clock reading an hour which he would rather not see.

"Can I stay the night?"

Daichi frowned, reaching out to pull him close.

"Of course." He said, "I wouldn't have it any other way, actually."

Suga climbed inside the light sheets and was immediately scooped even closer to Daichi's body. His skin seemed to ignite in the places where they were touching but with the nights becoming colder it was a good thing.

Daichi stank of sweat but his scent was still comforting, Suga inhaling as he buried his head into his shoulder and closed his eyes.

The last time Suga had slept, actually slept, next to another man was after just another forgettable one night stand on a rare night, close to four years ago. But that didn't feel like this did, next to someone Suga cared about and felt cared for in return.

It was too easy to fall asleep. Suga allowed himself to forget about his responsibilities for one night and enjoy lying in the arms of a man he was quickly falling in love with. Even though in the back of his mind, he wondered if this would be the only time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! :)  
> I hoped you enjoyed it!  
> Bonus if you can guess who Daichi's roommate is, it really does not affect the story whatsoever ^^"
> 
> One again thank you, and if you enjoyed it, please let me know!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suga has a hard time.

Suga woke to a sticky heat in his back and the smell of sex. He yawned, nostrils twitching as he stretched his body out, before twisting himself around in the sheets. Lying next to him was Daichi. His chest rising and falling softly as he still slept, his dark hair plastered around his face. Suga smiled, snuggling into the crook of his neck and inhaling his musky scent as he placed a kiss there.

Daichi began to stir, a low groan leaving his throat as he woke.

"Mornin'." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes as Suga continued to pepper his face and neck with kisses, "This isn't a bad way to wake up."

"I'm glad." Suga said, before nuzzling into his chest, allowing a strong arm to be wrapped around his waist.

"How does your body feel?"

Of course Daichi would be the gentleman the morning after, Suga holding back a giggle with the question.

"It's good. Perfect, even." He looked up grinning at the still drowsy man, "It feels like you were here."

"Ah, I see." Daichi said, his face flushing slightly red. "Do you want to get up?"

"Hmm, well we could lie in bed together and cuddle like this for a bit longer," Suga started keeping his position briefly on Daichi's chest before lifting his head and moving on top of his body, straddling his thick thighs. "Or we could go for round two?"

"Round two sounds tempting."

Daichi traced the lines of Suga's face with a feather touch, hovering his lips close to his. The light slipping from the cracks in between the curtain illuminated the other man, the room suddenly seeming incredibly light.

"Hang on- what time is it?"

Suga shot his head up, searching frantically for a sign of a clock in the room. Daichi, not seeming to notice his urgency, fumbled for his phone on the bedside cabinet and turned on the screen.

"11:03 am."

"Shit!"

Rolling off Daichi, Suga jumped to the floor. He began to gather his clothes into a pile and pull them on while uttering a stream of curses. There was no way that he could be late to collect Shouyou from his volleyball practice. That wouldn't be fair on him, or Iwaizumi who would undoubtedly take care of his son while they waited. Cuddles and sex was not a good enough excuse.

"I'm so sorry, Daichi." He said, giving him an apologetic look before continuing to dress, "I need to go."

"Why such the hurry?"

Daichi was frowning as he left the bed, helping Suga to shrug on his cardigan.

"I'm going to be late."

"Late for what?"

Suga bit his lip. It wasn't like Daichi to ask further questions to his vague replies. He was becoming suspicious, that much was clear, and it caused butterflies to erupt in his stomach.

"For volleyball." Suga said lightly, "I really need to get going."

"I thought you didn't play volleyball anymore?"

"I don't." Suga said, quickly zipping up his trousers and trying to smooth down his hair, "I'm watching it."

"Suga?" Daichi's voice was low, eyes fixed on the floor. "Is there something..."He trailed off, shaking his head with a small cough. "At least stay for breakfast? Kuroo, my roommate, is a better cook than me but I can still whip something up."

"I wish I could."

Wrapping his arms around Daichi's neck, Suga stood on his tiptoes and kissed him gently. He let their lips linger together for a moment before pulling apart with a small sigh. Suga allowed Daichi to bring him in for a quick hug and a kiss to the cheek before he walked him to the door, the other man still trying to persuade him to stay along the way. There was nothing Suga could do but answer with apologies, wishing he could spend just a couple more hours in his arms. They parted with another kiss, Suga closing the door to the apartment quietly behind him.

 

Suga arrived at the gymnasium early. There were not many parents gathered around the entrance yet but Iwaizumi was already there, standing out less than usual without Tooru being loud besides him. 

"Sugawara?" Iwaizumi was looking at him with a rare smirk on his face as he approached, eyebrows raised, "Seems like you had a fun time with that Sawamura last night."

"Huh?" Suga felt self conscious, taking a sniff of the end of his unwashed shirt. It didn't smell too badly. His clothes weren't too creased, either. "What makes you say that?"

"The giant hickeys all over your neck."

"No. Way."

Iwaizumi simply grinned, taking out his phone and opening the inside camera. A gasp shot from Suga's mouth as he saw his image looking back at him, purple and red marks leading from his neck downwards.

"Shit, I can't let everyone see me like this." Suga cursed, thankful there was no children around. "Do you have any concealer?"

"Do I look like my husband?"

"No, I guess not." Suga sighed, trying to cover the marks with his hands. Iwaizumi rolled his eyes.

"Hang on." He rummaged in his rucksack, pulling out a stick with a small frown. "Is this it?"

"Yeah- oh my god thank you."

Iwaizumi held up his phone as Suga applied it thickly enough to cover the marks to an acceptable standard. The shade didn't quite match his skin, clearly suited for someone with a slightly darker complexion. Iwaizumi insisted repeatedly that Tooru kept it in his bag for his own personal emergencies and that he doesn't wear make up, but from the colour Suga found it hard to believe.

"I'm glad it's going well between you two." Iwaizumi said quieter as more parents started to gather, "You deserve someone good."

"Mm, he asked to be in a relationship with me last night."

"And I'm guessing you said yes?"

"I wish." Suga groaned, "Not with the current situation."

"I'm sorry, Sugawara." Iwaizumi said, scratching at the back of his neck, "I'm not good at these sort of topics like Tooru is. But I do think you need to tell this Sawamura about Shouyou."

"Anyway, talking about Tooru, how did Tobio cope last night without him?"

If Iwaizumi noticed the sudden topic change, he did not mention it.

"Last night he was fine. The first night is usually okay, and he had Shouyou to distract him anyway."

Tooru had gone with the middle school volleyball team which he coaches to an away match, leaving for the entire weekend. Tobio had never coped well with this. Using Skype and Line Tooru tried to keep in contact with his son as much as possible and reassure him that he loved him and will be coming back, but it didn't always help on a bad day. Not with the past that Tobio had.

 

The gymnasium doors opened and out stormed an army of children. They ran to their parents clutching their volleyball bags, jumping and screaming. Shouyou was always one of the loudest. He was noticeable immediately, a bunch of unruly orange hair waving his hands as he shouted at Tobio who was equally as loud in response.

Suga and Iwaizumi moved simultaneously to intercept them, grabbing their own child, and in his case pulling Shouyou into a hug.

"How was your practice sweetie?" He asked quickly, pulling his son's attention away from where he was still glaring daggers at Tobio. 

"Tsukishima was being so stupid, just because he is a bit tall he thinks he is way better at blocking than I am." Shouyou moaned, talking a mile a minute, "Just because he blocked a few more, well a lot more, balls than me today. He isn't _that_ good. Kageyama is better. He can do everything. Not as good as me though, of course."

"Of course." Suga humoured him, "Why don't we invite Kei around for tea this Friday?"

"Can we? Can we? That would be so much fun!" Shouyou said, all of his previous animosity towards him seemingly forgotten,"Can we invite Yamaguchi too? And Kageyama?"

Squeezing four children into an already cramped apartment seemed like a lot of work, but if it was just for a couple of hours it would be okay. Tobio would already be there, anyway.

"Sure." He agreed, feeling warm at the noise of celebration Shouyou gave as a cheer, "Let me just ask their families quickly before they leave."

Often parents refused to allow their child to play with Shouyou in his home when they discovered he was a single father, which to him was ridiculous. Thankfully for them, the families of both Tadashi and Kei seemed to have no problem with arranging a play date, Kei's older brother particularly enthusiastic about the idea. They arranged for two hours, which was just enough time for the children to have fun without Suga becoming overwhelmed, and swapped numbers.

 Shouyou was excited the entire way to the family restaurant, talking animatedly with Tobio about what they would do this Friday. Suga couldn't help but glance at them with a smile throughout his own conversation with Iwaizumi. He hoped that the prospect of a crazy home would make what he knew would be a stressful week at work pass quicker. 

 

"Suga, how did you find time to flirt with Daichi at the photocopier when we are already short of time for this project? I can barely breathe." Asahi groaned, banging his head on his keyboard.

"Oops, you saw?" Suga winked, crossing his legs dramatically as he reclined in his chair, bringing up the designs he was finalising on screen.

His team had until the end of the following Thursday to complete two projects, resources divided between them both. It was tough and everyone was overworked. Suga vowed to buy everyone dinner when it was over. A cheap dinner.

"Everyone saw."

"Ah well." Suga said cheerfully, finally beginning to start his work, "At least that means no one else will try to claim him."

"No one else was planning to." Asahi said over the noisy taps of his keyboard, "You’re supposed to be our manager."

"And I am. If you all don’t do your work properly and flirt during working hours I will be livid."

"Such a hypocrite."

"Suga?"

Suga looked up from his computer to see Daichi, clutching a thick bundle of paper in his large hands. He wasn’t smiling.

"There were too many errors here." Daichi said firmly, handing him the papers which had glaring red circles all over it, "This isn’t the time for being loose with calculations."

"Sorry, Daichi." Suga said, jutting his bottom lip out in a pout as he scanned over the notes, "I will be more careful."

Daichi nodded, taking a step away before turning back towards Suga with a more relaxed expression. The sort that he was more used to seeing.

"If you are struggling with it, please come and find me." He said gently, "It would be faster than doing the whole thing wrong and having to start again."

Suga rested his chin on his hands and stared up at Daichi with as big eyes as he could manage.

"How about we do some more photocopying instead?"

Daichi coughed, Asahi letting out another groan from besides him.

"How about we continue it Friday night?"

" _Next_ Friday night."Suga corrected him. Daichi looked as though he wanted to question that, but instead he nodded.

"It’s always every two weeks." He said after a slight pause. "Is there a reason why?"

Suga watched his gaze flick from himself to Asahi and back to himself again, waiting for some sort of reaction. He couldn’t bear to look at Asahi. If their eyes met Suga was sure that his poker face would fade.

"I’m busy every other week." Suga said simply, "You know that."

"Yeah, I do." Daichi sighed, reaching over to ruffle his hair quickly before walking away, "Keep working. Do the report again."

"You two have no shame." Asahi said when Daichi was out of earshot, not having the confidence to say it in front of him.

"Yep, I know."

 

To Suga’s relief the week did pass quickly, and before he knew it he was guiding 4 children into the apartment’s tiny living room. They looked like an odd bunch together; sarcasm which was met with confusion from Shouyou and Tobio, insults, and random compliments towards Kei from Tadashi being tossed around at the same time. Their relationship bordered on the line between friends and rivals.

"Make yourself at home, boys." Suga said as the tornado swept through the room, "The food will be around half an hour so amuse yourselves until then."

It was unsurprising when the unmistakable sound of Mario Kart began to ring from the television speakers, Suga thankful that he owned 4 controllers.

"Kei won't lose at Mario Kart." Tadashi gushed as the game got into full swing, managing to talk over the stream of words between Shouyou and Tobio, "He plays all the time with big brother Akiteru at home so he is an expert!"

"Shut up Tadashi." Kei muttered as he swung the kart around a curve, currently sitting in 1st place.

"Sorry Kei!" 

The boys played until dinner was ready, Suga managing to squeeze them all around the small table as they ate their food. Shouyou looked ecstatic to have more people to play with than usual, Suga deciding that something like this wasn't too bad once in a while.

"Thank you for the food Hinata-san."

A moment passed before Suga realised Kei was referring to himself, letting out a small laugh at the way he was addressed.

"It's my pleasure. But oh, I have a different last name to Shouyou." Suga explained slowly, collecting the dishes, "It's Sugawara. But you can call me Suga."

He expected Kei to throw a snarky comment or question why their surnames were different. Suga started to prepare an answer in his head. But to his surprise he simply nodded at the information, turning back to the other children's Mario Kart discussion. Children really were more accepting than adults.

Once Tadashi's mother collected both him and Kei, the apartment became instantly quieter. Shouyou and Tobio seemed sleepy and it was just about their bedtime. Suga sent them both to brush their teeth and go to bed, booting up his laptop to work. The project wasn't going to finish itself.

"Dad?"

Suga looked up from his computer to see Shouyou standing in the doorway, eyes still tired and dressed in his too-big pyjamas which hung from his shoulders. He was fiddling with his hands, twisting them round and round. Pushing the laptop away from him, Suga held out his arms and gave his son his full attention.

"What is it, sweetie?"

Shouyou ran into the hug immediately, snuggling into his chest.

"Is it weird that we have different last names?" He asked quietly, voice muffled.

"Of course not." Suga said, combing through his wild hair softly, "Tobio has a different last name to his Dad's. Besides, it's your mother's last name. It links you together."

"My mother's..."

Shouyou's voice was at a whisper, not speaking anymore as only the sound of breathing could be heard. Suga held him close until he fell asleep, carrying him to his bed and tucking him in. Tobio was long asleep, snoring from the futon on the floor. Smiling, Suga closed the door behind him.

 

Work was hell. That was the best way to describe the day before a major deadline, most members of the office planning to sleep at their desks or stay at a nearby manga café that night. Even Suga didn't have any time to flirt, or to eat his lunch, spending every moment working non-stop at his computer. Asahi and other members of his team brought him coffee periodically, and Suga appreciated the effort that everyone was putting in.

By 3pm, the majority of the work had been done, but there was still a long night ahead. Suga grimaced, looking over the workload that everyone had. He needed to stay in the office and help, checking for errors and putting all of the pieces together. Yet he couldn't. There was a parent-teacher meeting that afternoon at 4:00, something which he was unable to miss. This was one of those days where the stress of work and the stress of being a parent clashed and became too much.

Suga grabbed his bag, trying not to make eye contact with anyone in the office as he made his way to his boss' desk, head down to stare at the floor.

Ukai's eyes narrowed as he spotted Suga, almost as though he was expecting him.

"Ukai-san, I'm sorry, but-"

"I've got it." Ukai said, sighing as he ran a hand through his long hair, "I know your circumstances. But that doesn't mean the deadline doesn't still stand. I expect the email through with the completed designs by midnight tonight so that everyone else can do their job or else your ass is on the line Sugawara. I mean that."

"Don’t worry." Suga said, bowing deeply to his boss, "I will get it done. I promise."

Ukai looked him up and down, mouth twisted in a grimace before swatting him away with his hands.

"Alright, hurry up and go."

Suga said his thanks, bowing once more, before hurrying towards the elevator with his head still down.

 

"Are you leaving?

Shit.

That deep voice was unmistakable, Suga knowing exactly who it belonged to before he saw him. He didn't want to see him, either, at that moment.

"Yep." Suga said airily, taking another step towards the elevator.

Daichi was faster, blocking his way in an instant as he frowned down at him.

"Suga, are you okay?" Daichi rested his palm on Suga's forehead for a moment before pulling it back.

"I'm good, don't worry." Suga said, still annoyed that he couldn’t slip away without Daichi seeing him, "I’ll see you tomorrow."

"Everyone else will be working here until late, but you’re leaving early?"

There was a slight hint of judgement to his tone, something which Suga wished he didn't pick up on.

"I'm going to work from home instead." Suga said, and it wasn't a lie. Just a half truth.

Daichi swallowed, face stiffening. He looked older like this, more troubled.

"Suga, can we talk tomorrow night?" He spoke each word slowly, dragging out each syllable.

"There's something you are hiding from me. I know it." Daichi continued, his voice pained. "I have thought this for a while now, and I am now reaching my limit."

Suga felt sick. This was it. It had been clear that Daichi had noticed that something wasn't quite right, and the limit of lies had been reached. He tried to take a deep breath, but choked on the exhale.

"Okay." Suga said, managing to steady himself, "Okay. But I really need to go now."

He pressed the button for the elevator.

Daichi let him go.

 

Depending on the teacher, Suga could enjoy or despise parent teacher meetings. He hated formal, stuffy atmospheres, or teachers who seemed to only live to criticise everything he did. Suga had barely met Shouyou’s current teacher and could therefore not gauge her.

He was already feeling nervous before the meeting started, the thoughts of Daichi still very much present in his mind.

"Please take a seat Sugawara-san." The teacher said as Suga was called into the room, guesting to the chair opposite her. She exuded a strict appearance, hair almost too neat and pinned back in a way which stretched her face. There were lines around her eyes and mouth and Suga couldn’t tell if it was from ageing or the stress of teaching 32 unruly kids on a daily basis.

"I am sure you know, but Shouyou is quite far behind the rest of the class in regards to his studies." She said, an extra pain shooting into Suga’s chest instantly with the information, "This is mostly apparent in his Japanese. He struggles to memorise how to write the characters and can get the readings confused. Although his mathematics ability is behind as well."

"I see."

"Can I ask what you do to help Shouyou with his studies at home? Does he attend a cram school as well?" The teacher continued, Suga's mind feeling light.

"I, I mean we, well we do drills occasionally." He said, thinking about the drill book he bought which was gathering dust on their bookshelf, "And I look over his homework."

She clicked her tongue, reaching into her desk drawer and pulling out a business card before offering it to Suga.

"I understand that it can be difficult raising a child without a mother." She said, tone serious,"I can refer you to some agencies which can help to support struggling parents."

"I'm not a struggling parent." Suga spat, only just able to contain the anger he felt rising through him, "I can take care of Shouyou just fine."

"Sugawara-san, there is no shame in admitting that you need help." She continued, speaking calmly as she kept the card outstretched card in front of her. "No one is here to judge that."

"Well, that seems to be what you are doing right now, judging me."

He rose from his seat, body burning. The teacher rose with him, straight faced.

"Please take the card."

 

Suga ripped up the card and shoved it in the first bin he could find.

Shouyou was waiting in the school hall, his eyes lighting up as his Suga ran towards him. He pulled him into a hug immediately, arms engulfing his entire body.

"Shouyou, I love you so much." He said, clinging to his son, "I'm sorry if I have let you down."

"Dad, what do you mean?"

Suga didn't answer, simply keeping his son close and feeling his warmth.

 

The next day at work passed without any contact with Daichi. Everyone was exhausted, Suga including, having just managing to meet the deadline the previous night. The projects were finished and so everyone was taking it easy, more sleeping at desks than any actual work being done. By the end of the day Suga just wanted to go home and get a proper rest, eyelids heavy. He didn't want to live through the conversation that he knew needed to happen.

Daichi met him at the reception desk after work hours, where they walked in silence to a nearby cafe. It wasn't their usual place. It was quieter, and further out of the way. Once drinks had arrived Daichi spoke, breaking through the awkwardness in their silence.

"Please talk to me."

"Daichi." Suga took a deep breath, "There's something I need to tell you."

Daichi nodded, both of his hands resting on top of the table.

"Go ahead. I need to know."

Suga laughed, the sound unnatural.

"I don't know how to say it."

"Is there another man?"

"...What?"

"I just tried to think of reasons why you would be always acting so secretive. Why you won't be in a relationship with me."

Suga couldn't be angry at the accusation. He was not a cheater, would never even consider it, but he couldn't blame Daichi for his mind wondering to those thoughts.

"There is no other man." Suga said, some of the tension in Daichi's face leaving with his words.

"Then what is it?"

It was now or never. Suga took calming breaths, clutching his coffee cup. It was still hot, almost scalding his hands, but the pain grounded him.

"I have a son."

There was a silence. Suga started counting the seconds before Daichi spoke, his face showing no reaction to the statement.

"You have a son." He repeated, gaze like a laser staring into him.

"Yes." Suga exhaled slowly. "I have a son. I'm a single father. He is 7 years old."

"7 years old..." Daichi breathed, hands shaking before his voice rose. "When the hell were you going to tell me?"

"I just couldn't." Suga said, lip trembling, "It's so hard to tell people that. Everyone always reacts the same way. People don't want to date someone with a child, not at our age. I really liked you so I didn't want to ruin things..."

He trailed off, the dark look in Daichi's eyes causing him to stop.

"That's not the issue here, Suga. You have lied to me this whole time. If I had known from the start then, I don't know, things could have been different. We wouldn't be having this conversation right now, at least." Daichi's voice was now strangely calm, a deep undertone which made Suga shudder, "You have had plenty of opportunities to tell the truth. It's been over two months. Honesty is so damn important Suga!"

"Daichi, I'm sorry-"

"Suga." Daichi was already standing up, taking out his wallet and putting some notes on the table, "I need to go."

"No, Daichi. Wait." Suga's body was frozen, his arm pathetically trying to reach out for Daichi from his seat. He knew it was no use.

"I need to go." He said, a slight wave underneath his firm tone, "I have a lot I need to think about."

Suga wanted to beg, to plead, to persuade Daichi to stay there with him and give him another chance. But he couldn't do it. He knew it was his fault. Instead Suga watched Daichi walk away, leaving him alone in the cafe.

Suga was struggling to keep up with work. He was failing at providing everything his son needed. And now it was going to be over with the man who he was starting to picture a future with. Months of pent stress and emotions suddenly assaulted Suga at once, a sob slipping from his mouth.

He was lucky that the few customers in the cafe were too engrossed in their own affairs to notice the grown man crying in the corner window seat, tears streaming down his face and onto the table.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! :D
> 
> I wanted to upload this yesterday, but I had a Japanese exam and a Korean class so didn't have as much time as I would have liked to work on this. (I swear I was the only person older than 12 in that exam!)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed it, and well done everyone who guessed Kuroo last chapter. I guess it was obvious!! If you liked it, please let me know!
> 
> Thank you again! :)


	5. Chapter 5

It seemed to take longer than usual for Suga to return home, the silence of his apartment offering him no comfort. The night was still early, not even 8 yet, but all Suga wanted to do was sleep. He climbed into his bed, pulling the covers over his head as he switched off the light and turned on his alarm. With the weight of the phone in his hand, Suga considered messaging Daichi. Considered offering him another apology, stating it wasn't too late at night to meet again and give another explanation. Yet he didn't. Suga considered calling Tooru, too. But he didn't want to worry him.

Instead he put the phone face down next to his pillow before closing his eyes and letting exhaustion take him.

 

Suga woke to his screeching alarm and a splitting headache. His dreams were a mixture of Shouyou, Daichi and himself, the images blurred together as he struggled to remember them.

Suga could picture Daichi playing with Shouyou, helping him with his homework, enjoying time together. It seemed as though he would be good with children. _Raising_ Shouyou besides him, however, was harder to imagine. That was partly because of his own reluctance to share that responsibility yet with anyone. Partly because Daichi probably wouldn't want to. Not now.

It took all of Suga's effort to drag himself from his bed, not bothering to shower as he pulled on his clothes and made a cup of coffee. The liquid scalded his throat as he downed it as fast as he can before setting out to collect Shouyou from volleyball.

 

"Kou-chan...what happened?"

Both of his friends looked at him with worried expressions as he arrived at the gym. Suga groaned inwardly. He must look awful. He had not looked in a mirror that day, or even bothered to do anything with his appearance, so he could only imagine the state that he was in.

"I'm going to take Shouyou straight home today." Suga said, avoiding both the question and eye contact with his friends as he gazed down at the floor, "I don't feel up for socialising, sorry."

"That's fine." Iwaizumi said, although he continued to look at him warily.

"Kou-chan, if you need to talk about anything I'm here. Okay?"

Suga hated how sickly sweet Tooru's voice sounded, how it couldn't hide any of his concern.

"Yeah, I don't mind having Shouyou for an extra few hours if you two need to have a talk." Iwaizumi added, his input only making Suga feel worse.

"I'm good." He lied. It was hard to shake that terrible habit, no matter how much trouble it got him into. 

It was clear that they wanted to press the topic, and by the way Tooru was sharing glances with Iwaizumi it seemed as though he had an inkling already about what had happened. Yet the doors of the gym swinging open saved Suga from their questioning. Children flooded through the doors, Shouyou grinning as he approached. He could not manage to smile back.

"Shouyou, let's go." Suga muttered, grabbing his son's hand and leading him towards the exit.

"Wait! Kageyama and Uncle-"

"Not today."

 

The walk home was silent. They usually chatted nonstop about volleyball and what Shouyou's night at the Iwaizumi household was like but neither of them made a sound. The silence continued when they arrived home, Shouyou retreating to his bedroom and Suga turning on the television to watch a trashy television program. He didn't want to think.

It was nearly evening before Suga started a conversation with Shouyou. Lunch had been another quiet affair, and he was just about to start on dinner when Suga noticed his son turn on his games console. The conversation he had with Shouyou's teacher came to mind, Suga putting down the frying pan with a sigh.

"Did you do your homework yesterday?"

"Nope." Shouyou said cheerfully, plopping down onto the sofa with the controller in his hands.

"You need to finish your homework before you play any games." Suga said, walking over to the console and turning it off, "C'mon, I'll do it with you. I'll help."

"I don't wanna do it, I wanna play video games!"

Suga closed his eyes and exhaled, counting slowly in his head. Shouyou just had to be in one of those moods when he really did not feel up for coping with it.

"Afterwards, Shouyou. Homework first."

"No! I'm going to play!"

Shouyou gave Suga the dirtiest glare before marching over to the console and turning it back on.

Suga's patience snapped.

"Shouyou, just do your damn homework!" He yelled, his voice flying out of his throat at a volume he didn't realise he was capable of. "This is all your fault anyway! Everything is! If you weren't here, then I would-"

By the time Suga realised the words leaving his mouth it was too late. Shouyou was staring at him, eyes wide as tears spilled down his cheeks. His mouth quivered, nothing but a whimper leaving it, before he shot into his bedroom with a loud cry.

Suga froze.

What was he saying? What did he just say to his son who he loved so much, who was everything to him. Why did he take his anger out on him? Legs giving way, Suga dropped to the floor as his own tears began to take him. His crying worsened as he pulled his phone from his pocket, shakily pressing Tooru's number.

"T-Tooru." Suga managed to breathe out through sobs as the call connected, unable to say anything else as he choked through all of his words. It was impossible to hear Tooru's voice through the speaker, he couldn't make out anything, moments later the line going flat.

 

Suga did not know how much later it was before there was a bang- the sound of the front door slamming open echoing through the living room. He felt himself being pulled close to a warm chest, the feathery tickle of hair against his forehead.

"Oh Koushi, shh. Shh. It's okay, don't cry."

Suga knew who the voice belonged to. The sweet perfume was familiar. He let his best friend comfort him, rocking him slowly, as he tried to steady his breathing and stop his tears.

"Tooru, Shouyou I...Daichi he...."

"Don't talk." Tooru's voice was firm and stable as he shushed him, rubbing circles into his back, "Not until you stop crying."

Suga couldn't remember the last time that he broke down like this. Not since Shouyou was 2 years old and screaming on the floor while Suga, young, overwhelmed and unable to cope, cried equally loud next to him. He didn't want to go back to those days.

Tooru held Suga on the floor until his crying faded into small sniffs before stopping completely. They relocated onto the comfier sofa. Tooru kept a reassuring hand on his arm as Suga explained what had happened with Daichi and Shouyou, as well as the stress he was feeling from work and worries he was not doing enough to help his son academically.

His friend didn't judge although he had every right to say an 'I told you so' or more.

"Daichi said he had a lot to think about, right?" Tooru said instead as he kept his hand running circles on Suga's lower back after he had finished talking, "That's a good thing. That isn't rejection."

"It might as well be."

"No, It's not." Tooru sighed, his patience was never as long as he pretended it to be, "It means he is taking it seriously. If he made a rash decision to enter into a relationship with you without considering everything it would entail then that is stupid. And he clearly likes you, a lot."

"What if he decides he can't trust me again?" Suga said, leaning to rest his head on Tooru's shoulder.

"It's...a possibility. Which would also be understandable."

"You were right, Tooru. All of you were. I should have told him about Shouyou from the start."

Shouyou.

"Fuck, where's Shouyou?" Panic spread through Suga quickly as he leapt up despite his shaking body and dizzy head, "I need to see him, I said some things. Oh god, is he okay-"

"Koushi, listen." Tooru said, his calm voice cutting through his fears, "Shouyou is with Hajime. He took him back to our place and he will spend the night there. He will be fine."

"He will hate me." Suga said, dropping back down on the sofa next to Tooru,"Shouyou will hate me."

"Don't be stupid."

"I'm not. We have never argued like that before. And I crossed the line, I didn't even mean it-"

"Stop."

Tooru took Suga by the shoulders and twisted him so that their eyes were meeting. He could see the sincerity in his words, gaze unflinching.

"Shouyou adores you, and you him. No family is without fights. You will make up just fine."

"I hope you're right." Suga sighed, reclining against the sofa cushions. Once again he was starting to feel exhausted from all of the crying.

"Just wait until Shouyou and Tobio become teenagers, then we both are really gonna get it." Tooru said, a small smile on his face. Suga snorted.

"I think Tobio will be the worst, the moody type probably."

They both laughed, Suga already starting to feel slightly better. Tooru stood up, heading towards the sink.

"I'm going to get you some water, then we are going to bed."

Sleeping with Tooru was nothing like sleeping with Daichi. Which it shouldn't be, really. Tooru was lanky, his arms and legs spread out like a spider in an attempt to take up as much room as possible in the bed. Suga remained in his corner, curled up on his side. Despite being more than slightly annoying, having Tooru next to him was a comfort.

Maybe things were going to be okay.

 

In the morning, they walked the mile and a half to Tooru's house. It was easy to be jealous of the Iwaizumi's home. It wasn't a large house, but it _was_ a house, in a nice neighbourhood with space for their two cars. With two decent salaries they could afford better than Suga ever could, provide more for Tobio than Suga could do even with the financial help towards childcare that he received from his parents. Suga always tried not to let his envy show.

"I can't go in." Suga said as they reached the house, pausing outside the gate. "Shouyou won't want to see me." Tooru rolled his eyes.

"We have been through this."

"But-"

"Nope." Tooru said with a pop, pushing Suga towards the door, "Damn, I don't have my key..."

He pushed the doorbell, leaning up against the door frame.

There was a deep shout of affirmation from the other side of the door before it opened, Iwaizumi standing there in sweatpants and a hoodie. He grinned, running his hands through his spiky hair.

"Welcome home baby." He kissed Tooru on the cheek before opening the door wider, "Oi Shouyou, look who's here!"

"Dad!"

Shouyou was running wildly towards him with his trademark grin across his face before leaping upwards. Suga managed to catch him, pulling him into his arms despite being a bit too heavy for that now, and cuddling him close to his chest.

"Shouyou sweetie, I'm so, so sorry." Suga said, pressing a kiss to his forehead as he slowly lowered him to the ground.

He looked sheepish, almost embarrassed as he dug his heels into the ground.

"I'm sorry too, I was being naughty."

"You should never hear anything like that, though. Never." Suga said, petting his hair gently, "I didn't mean it. Not a word. You know that, right?"

Shouyou nodded, burying his face into Suga's hips.

"Are we friends again now?"

Shouyou nodded again against him, and Suga felt himself overcome with relief.

"Okay, go and say goodbye to Tobio." Suga said, giving him a small nudge back into the house before turning to Iwaizumi. "Thank you so much."

"No problem." He shrugged, trying to prise Tooru who was attached to his side away from him.

"What did you say to him?" Suga asked, wondering how so little conflict could remain between them.

"Nothing much." Iwaizumi said, face turning red as he let out a small cough, "Just that you were going through a hard time and didn't mean the things you said, and that he just needed to give you lots of cuddles to make it better."

Tooru burst out laughing, the sound howling throughout the entrance way.

"I can't believe you suggested cuddles! You sap."

"Shut up Shittykawa."

"Now now Iwa-chan, don't use that sort of language in front of the children."

"They aren't listening, so I can call you Shittykawa as much as I like."

Suga smiled as he took his shoes off before entering the house to find Shouyou, leaving the couple to argue in the entrance way.

His son was making zero efforts to leave, sat chatting with Tobio enthusiastically about something at the dining room table. Tobio was still in his pyjamas and almost looked ready to fall back asleep at any moment despite the energy Shouyou was throwing his way.

"Sugawara, stay for lunch." Iwaizumi said, popping his head into the room. It wasn't a question.

"No, we better get going. It's been a rough night." Suga said, trying to edge back towards the door while gesturing to Shouyou, but his friends were firm.

"Stay." Tooru said cheerfully, pulling him to the sofa and enthusiastically pushing him down onto it, "I will run you back in my car afterwards so you have no excuses. A free meal and a free ride!"

Suga was unable to argue any further. Shouyou sat next to him on the sofa and started to tell him about a television program he had watched once Tooru sent Tobio to his room to get changed. The tension between them had now completely vanished.

 

 

"Asahi, can you run these finances over to Daichi?"

Asahi looked up from his computer, blinking at Suga with a frown on his face.

"You're not going yourself?"

Suga chewed slightly on his bottom lip, leaning towards Asahi and placing the documents slowly onto his desk.

"Um, no. Not right now."

"Suga." Asahi was cautious, his words careful, "Something happened between you two, didn't it?"

"No, of course not." Suga denied before quickly breaking under his friend's stare, "Okay, maybe something has."

Asahi groaned, standing up with the documents in hand.

"I will go." He said, heading in the direction of the finance department, "But you can't avoid him forever."

He knew that. Daichi was too professional to let anything between them affect their work. So was he. Suga was confident that even if things did not work out between them, they would be able to work together in the office amicably.

Suga believed this until he noticed Daichi striding towards him later that afternoon. His mind quickly changed. To his horror Asahi left his desk, muttering something about coffee, as Suga's heart threatened to leave through his mouth. He tried to remain calm, forcing a smile, as Daichi placed the documents he sent earlier on his desk.

"Suga, you used the wrong price list for this." He said, pointing to the mistakes with one of his long fingers.

"Huh?" Suga said, furrowing his brows before noticing his error. "Shit- you're right."

"That's unlike you," Daichi started, pulling a pen from his pocket to scribble a note on the top of the sheet with the cap in his mouth, "To get things _that_ wrong."

"Sorry." Suga opened up the document on his computer, "I've been a bit distracted."

He noticed Daichi's expression soften, his voice lowering.

"How have you been?"

There were many answers Suga could give to that question. He decided to take a risk.

"I saw the new Disney Pixar film on Sunday afternoon with Shouyou- my son."

Suga had to remember how to breathe as he waited for the reply, anticipating negativity in response to naturally mentioning the one thing he kept a secret from him for 2 months.

Yet, Daichi smiled.

"Was it any good?"

"It kept him entertained for an hour and a half, so it was good in my book."

"I'm glad." Daichi said, and he genuinely seemed it with the small smile still on his face. "I'm glad you seem to be doing okay, too."

Suga did not get a chance to ask what he meant by that as Daichi turned around and returned to the finance department.

 

They exchanged pleasantries several times throughout the course of the week. Daichi was polite, almost too polite for Suga's liking, but it was better than any open hostility or active avoidance which he expected to happen. He could tell that Daichi still watched him when he was nearby, able to feel his gaze resting upon him. Occasionally when their eyes met, he smiled, nothing forced about it. The attraction was still present between them. Maybe all wasn't lost for them yet.

 

Days passed quickly until it had been nearly two weeks since their talk in the cafe, and Suga was beginning to ache for Daichi. Seeing him at work and having quick, simple conversations were not enough. He missed the feel of Daichi's body wrapped around his, the way his voice tickled his skin when he whispered against his ear and the strong, comforting scent that accompanied him.

If Suga wanted to regain the chance to be in a relationship with Daichi, he had to do more.

 

"You've finished the report for the new apartment building?" Asahi asked, peering over at Suga's desk, "I'll deliver it once I have sorted out the wholesale discount for the other building."

"I'm going to take it myself." Suga said standing up, a sudden determination filling his mind.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, make me a coffee."

 

"Suga?" Daichi looked surprised but not displeased as he noticed his presence, taking the documents from his outstretched hands.

"I know you are busy with the general finances, but can you just take a quick look at this to check I'm on the right track?" Suga tilted his head, pouting slightly as leaned over the desk with his biggest eyes.

Daichi swallowed a laugh, trying to keep the expression on his face serious.

"Okay, give me a minute."

Suga waited on a nearby chair as Daichi worked, watching the way his eyes dashed around the page and his neat handwriting when he wrote the occasional note. Sometimes his tongue ran across his bottom lip, before he smacked his lips together. Suga could not tell whether he was doing that on purpose or not.

"Your reports have been a lot better recently." Daichi said eventually, replacing the cap on his red pen before returning the paper to Suga.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Maybe it's because you have been putting more effort into them instead of rushing them out so you can see me more often?"

"Maybe." Suga giggled, Daichi's face tinging red, "What if I tried to see you more frequently again?" Suga asked, trying to sound confident despite the doubts in his mind, leaning over the desk again with one of his playful smiles.

"I wouldn't mind."

It was Suga's turn to feel his face burn. Any colour to his cheeks was noticeable immediately with his complexion, and his hands automatically moved to cover them.

"Are you free Friday night?" Daichi continued, his tone warm, "It's one of your free weeks, right?"

"I'm free."Suga said lightly as his heart beat ferociously in his chest, "Why? Are you asking me out on a date?"

"Not quite." The corner of Daichi's lip turned up, "But I do think we need to have another talk."

Suga doesn't think he has ever agreed to anything that quickly in his life.

 

A different cafe was chosen for their talk on Friday night. Whether it was out of consideration to not bring up painful memories from the last time, or just a coincidence, Suga was grateful for the change. He did not feel ready to show his face there again, not when he spent too long crying in the corner.

"I want to start by apologising for leaving so quickly last time." Daichi started the conversation when their coffee's had arrived, a bowl of fries to share sitting in the middle of the table.

"It's understandable. It was a shock." Suga said slowly, hands frozen in their place on top of the table.

"If I had stayed that night, I would have blown up." Daichi said, not a joke upon his face,"I didn't want to do that. I needed time and space to think instead of ending it all in an instant then."

Suga could only nod. The though of Daichi doing that was frightening.

"The lies hurt, Suga."

"I know."

"But I think I understand why you did it." Daichi said, taking a sip from his coffee, "And I have thought about that, but it doesn't really soften the blow."

"Daichi, I'm really sorry." Suga said, trying not to allow his voice to sound too pleading, "I really am."

Daichi shook his head, taking a nibble out of one of the fries.

"You lied to me, but I don't think you are a _liar_. The Suga I have got to know, the one who I have been dating for over 2 months, is the real you, right?"

"It is."

"That was one part of the equation that I needed to consider."

Trust Daichi to apply his mathematical brain to this, Suga thought, helping himself to one of the fries.

"But there was a lot more for me to consider, too." Daichi said, "Being in a relationship with you would be a massive commitment as it would affect more than just the two of us, and change my life as well in a major way. I had to think about if I was ready to take that on."

Suga swallowed, the fry dangerously close to getting stuck in his throat.

"What did you decide?"

"I don't know anything about children, really." Daichi said and Suga's hope sank. "I have not spent a lot of time around them, I don't know if we would get along. It scares me a bit to try. I am not sure what sort of role you would expect me to take for your son, either, or if I could do it well enough"

That was it. This was rejection. It was a kinder, softer version of the conversation Suga had heard many times before. Although this time it was worse, because it was Daichi. He felt sick, his body feeling empty.

"Yet the more I thought about it, the more I got used to the idea in my mind. The more I started to like it."

Suga blinked, Daichi's words not registering fully in his mind.

"I wanted to think more about my feelings for you, too. To see if it was just an 'in the moment thing' that we were living through, or if my feelings were long lasting. And now I know."

"Please hurry up and just tell me." Suga said quietly, "I'm unable to take this stupid tension you are building anymore."

Daichi laughed.

"I want to try, Suga." Daichi said, a small smile sneaking onto his face, "My feelings for you are serious."

"Daichi..." Suga tried to gather his thoughts and create a coherent sentence in his mind. It wasn't working. "You still want me? Even after...I'm a dreadful person."

"Don't say that." Daichi said strongly, reaching over the table and grabbing Suga's hand in his own. "You're not. I know that. But there is one condition."

Suga swallowed.

"What is it?"

"No more lies."

"No more lies." Suga agreed, hands shaking in Daichi's warm grip. The grip tightened.

"Then it is settled." Daichi's face was now closer than before, warm breath against his chin, "Sugawara Koushi, will you be my boyfriend?"

"Don't make it sound like a proposal." Suga couldn't keep the grin from his face, "Yes, of course."

Daichi's face moved closer until their lips were pressing together in a short kiss, the taste of salt from the fries filling his tongue.

"Can I ask a question?" Daichi licked a grain of salt from the corner of Suga's mouth before reclining in his chair.

"You can ask more than one." Suga said, enjoying the continued weight of Daichi's hand in his, "You deserve at least that."

"Where...What happened with...Shouyou's? Mom?"

Suga let out a small groan, wincing as though he was in pain.

"It's not a romantic story, and I will dread telling Shouyou when he is old enough to hear it." He said, Daichi remaining silent as he waited for him to begin. "I was in university, and I knew I liked men but wasn't too sure about women. So I decided to try. It was a one night stand."

"I see."

"After that I decided I didn't like women, but the damage had already been done when I was drunk off my head that night. Apparently drunk me doesn't use condoms."

"So you decided to take full custody of Shouyou when he was born?" Daichi asked. He didn't seem judgemental, just curious. Suga shook his head.

"I didn't even know that she was pregnant until Shouyou arrived at my family's doorstep at just over one year old with his birth certificate."

"...What?"

"Shouyou's mom abandoned him, and that's the truth." Suga said, trying to keep down the wave of emotions that threatened to spill with that single thought, "It must just have been too much for her to cope."

"That must have been a shock." Daichi said, his face the epitome of those words, "What did your parents do?"

"My parents were shocked too of course, didn't believe he was mine at first." Suga said, a laugh catching in his throat, "But I knew straight away. I could just tell. My mom made me do a DNA test anyway, so I did, and of course I turned out to be the father."

"Suga..." It was now Daichi's turn to struggle to speak, looking split between embracing Suga and crying himself.

"Oh, my parents love Shouyou now." Suga smiled, "He's their adorable grandson. They spoil him when we visit, actually, and they pay for all of his after school care. Which is a massive help."

"You're so amazing." Daichi ran his hands through his hair as he took a steadying breath, "I can't imagine how strong you are."

"Probably less strong than you think." Suga said, "I struggled so much at first. I suddenly had this almost toddler who I hadn't yet bonded with and had to be a father to him. It was hell."

"I don't know if I can...be like a father."

"You don't have to be." Suga said, almost too snappy before softening his tone while remembering the conversation he had previously with his friends, "Not straight away."

"Can I meet Shouyou?" Daichi asked, looking hopeful.

Suga considered the request for a moment before shaking his head.

"Not yet," He said, Daichi becoming visibly disappointed, "I want to be sure about everything first. I can show you a picture, though."

Daichi brightened as Suga took out his phone, scrolling through his photos until he found a particularly cute one and passed him his phone.

"Oh, wow." Daichi breathed, a wide smile spreading across his face, "He's gorgeous. He has your smile."

"That's probably the only thing of mine he has got. Physically at least." Suga said, unable to stop pride welling up through him, "But that's my Shouyou for you."

"I'm going to work hard so that you can trust me." Daichi said, taking Suga's hand in his once again and giving it a squeeze. His eyes widened.

"Shouldn't it be the other way around?" Suga said lowly, "I was the one who created this fabric of lies, you didn't do anything wrong."

"This isn't the confident Suga that I have been falling for these past few months." Daichi murmured, running a hand down his neck, "Where did he go?"

"That Suga doesn't always exist. But it's not a lie!" Suga added quickly, a sudden panic rushing through him, "But sometimes, I need to force it out a bit."

"Shh, I understand." Daichi nuzzled his face into the softness of Suga's hair before placing a kiss there, "Sometimes you just need a bit of help to build that confidence back up, right?"

Suga nodded, taking Daichi's chin in his hands before pulling it down for a kiss.

This time he didn't let Daichi pull away for air, keeping their lips massaging together as his hands traced up the back of his neck before settling in the hair there and tugging lightly.

"Suga- Suga. We need to stop." Daichi said as one of them let out a low groan.

"Why?" Suga asked before diving in for another kiss.

"Because if you carry on, I won't be able to control myself."

"Then don't."

"We shouldn't right now." Daichi said again.

Sadly, Suga agreed. He pulled away reluctantly, the feel of Daichi remaining on his lips.

Daichi downed the rest of his coffee which must have now gone cold, before pulling Suga up off his seat with him.

"C'mon, I'll walk you to the station."

They left the cafe hand in hand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! :)  
> The response I have been getting has made me so happy! It encourages me to keep writing, even when it's getting so hot in Japan now and it feels like my laptop is going to explode in the heat ^^"  
> Thank you once more, and if you enjoyed it please let me know! :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daichi meets someone special

With the weight of the lie off his shoulders, Suga spent as much time as he could telling Daichi about Shouyou. He wanted his new boyfriend to know exactly what sort of child his son was; his personality, what he liked and the things he wasn't so good at. Daichi was a good listener, taking each piece of information straight into his memory, and asking his own questions to find out more.

They were sat in a cafe having one of their weekly lunch dates, the warmth inside the building contrasting harshly with the layer of snow that had fallen outside. Daichi was sipping slowly on his hot chocolate that Suga thought looked sickeningly sweet, nodding and smiling along with his story.

When was the last time Daichi spoke? Suga cringed, ending his tale abruptly.

"I'm sorry for talking about Shouyou all the time." He said quickly, putting his hands together in an apology, "You must be so fed up."

"You know I don't mind it." Daichi said, pulling his hands apart gently. "I want to know. Besides, you look so happy talking about him. I'm just glad you can be yourself now."

"I have talked enough now, though." Suga said. He reclined back in his chair, cupping the remainder of his black coffee to his chest. "What's new with you, Daichi?"

"Apart from getting an adorable new boyfriend?"

Suga pouted, puffing up his cheeks.

"Well you better tell me about him, because I am clearly not that adorable boyfriend."

Daichi laughed, reaching over the table and pressing his cheeks together to make a 'popping' sound. He ignored Suga's scowl.

"Yes you are." He said, before taking a sip of his drink."Hmm, my roommate and his insane boyfriend have increased our gym workouts from three times a week to four, and they refuse to let me skip it. They are going to kill me."

"Poor you." Suga said, without even a hint of sympathy in his voice, before wiggling his eyebrows suggestively towards him. "Maybe you should show me the results of your extra training sessions?"

"Your lines are getting worse, Suga." Daichi said, shaking his head.

"Did it work, though?"

"Ask me again when we are not in a public place."

Suga grinned, his mood brightening. That was a yes.

"Can I kiss you?"

Daichi was resting his chin on his hands, empty cup pushed away from him, as he seemed to stare right into Suga's eyes. His cheeks started to burn with the attention, words becoming stuck in his throat.

"I really think we are beyond asking now." Suga managed to say in a straight voice, pushing a loose strand of hair away from his face.

Daichi smiled, slowly and gently. Leaning over the table, he hovered his lips just close enough to taste the chocolate on his breath before pressing them together.

 

Shouyou's room was too quiet that Friday night. When he was together with Tobio, Suga usually had to pop his head through the door several times to tell them to tone down their volume, but he had not heard a peep from them since after dinner. The boys could have fallen asleep, it had happened before, and Suga hated waking them to wash their faces and brush their teeth.

He knocked on Shouyou's door once, an energetic reply coming from the other side. So, they _weren't_ asleep _._ He pushed the door open.

"Hey boys, I printed off some new paper crafts at 7/11 today if you want to try-" Suga trailed off, his eyes catching on the Lego monstrosity on the floor. "Um, what's that?"

Tobio looked up from where he was constructing his creation with large blue eyes. He dropped some of the bricks he was holding onto the floor, Shouyou covering his mouth with his hands to try not to laugh.

"It's a house." He said, "But Kageyama sucks with Lego."

"Shut up." Tobio grumbled, elbowing Shouyou lightly who let out a small yelp, "Like you're any better."

Yet Shouyou _was_ better, the station he had built for his toy trains standing proudly next to him.

"It's not bad." Suga lied through his teeth, snapping a quick picture with his phone before crouching down next to him, "Can you talk me through it?"

"Here is the living room, kitchen...there's a volleyball court here," Tobio pointed to each part of his house, Suga trying to nod reassuringly along with him despite being unable to visualise any of it, "And here is mine and Hinata's room, this is my dad's room, and this is your room."

Suga blinked, his voice unintentionally softening.

"You want us to all live together?"

Tobio nodded, his face turning slightly red.

"Because you are like my family too." He said, words barely audible, "You never hated me even when I was difficult. Even Hinata didn't."

"Oh Tobio, of course we would never hate you." Suga tried to hold back his tears, as he brought the boy in for a tight cuddle. Tobio didn't try to resist like he usually would, allowing himself to be held. Shouyou, looking left out, jumped into the pile and tried to wrap his arms around the both of them despite them being too short. Tobio had experienced much more than any 6, nearly 7, year old should ever have done. All they could do was give him the love he deserved from now on.

 

After dropping both boys off at their volleyball practice in the morning, Suga met his friends at the nearby cafe for a late breakfast. They had already ordered when he arrived, sitting at a window seat and talking lightly. Although Suga had long gotten over the feeling of being the third wheel when they met, occasionally it seemed wrong to intrude on them when they looked so happy in each other's company.

Suga wondered if he and Daichi could ever achieve the 'wonderfully in love' aura that they always seemed to have. Although, Iwaizumi would certainly hit him if he told them that's how they looked. The information would go to Tooru's head.

"Kou-chan!" Suga cringed as the loud call caused others in the cafe to turn their heads his way, "How long are you gonna space out over there?"

"Sorry, sorry."

He rushed over to the empty seat on their table, hoping that the other customers had returned their attention to their own business.

"Everything good?" Iwaizumi asked, Suga giving his best beaming smile in return.

"Yep, yep." He said, "I took a picture of Tobio's Lego creation last night."

Suga took out his phone and found the photo, passing it to his friends.

"What...is it?" Tooru asked, tilting the phone as though to find the perfect viewing angle. Iwaizumi failed to stifle his laughter.

"It's a house for us all to live in."

"That's a house?"

"It has a volleyball court in the back. Apparently."

"Our son has many talents." Iwaizumi said, returning the phone to Suga, "But construction isn't one of them."

"I liked it." Suga said, "I liked how he thought of us all as one big family. It felt less lonely."

"Kou-chan..."

Tooru's mouth was hanging open, stuck between pity and sympathy.

"I will always love you! You can always be my family!" Suga had never seen Tooru move so fast. He shot like a blur towards him before pressing his whole weight against his body in a crippling hug.

"Somehow I feel left out." Iwaizumi said, although his eyebrow was cocked upwards in amusement.

"Iwa-chan, I will always love you too! Join the hug."

"I don't feel _that_ left out."

"Tooru, get off." Suga groaned, trying to prise him off, "People are looking."

"Let them look and feel the jealousy."

"Alright Shittykawa, that's enough." Iwaizumi said, his patience finally running out. He marched over to Suga's side of the table and dragged a complaining Tooru back to his seat, "Let's get back to the main topic."

"The main topic?" Suga asked. He did not like the sound of that.

Tooru's face lit straight back up, his mood changing instantly.

"Ah yes. So, as well as thinking about my dear Tobio-chan's birthday, I have been organising the new year's party." He started, sipping casually on his milkshake, "And I have come to the conclusion that you must bring your new boyfriend!"

"Isn't it...too soon?" Suga said warily, picturing how overwhelming introducing Daichi in such a situation would be for everyone involved. "Shouyou doesn't even know that he exists yet."

"Easy, you have just got to let him meet Shouyou first." Tooru shrugged, before pouring the last bits in the glass down his throat.

That was not anywhere near as easy as Tooru liked to make it sound.

"What about Tobio?"

"He will be fine." Iwaizumi said, surprising Suga by speaking up, "Tobio needs to get used to meeting new people."

They were both against him. Suga sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"I'll think about it."

 

Once Tooru had decided something, it was very difficult to change his mind. It was even more difficult to do so if Iwaizumi was on his husband's side, too. If Suga made no moves to invite Daichi to the party, Tooru would find some way to do it himself. He knew where Suga worked.

There were many warning signs in his head, telling him that it was too soon. That they were rushing things, and that doing so would mean that it would not work out. If Suga did not feel secure in his relationship and how he wanted to fit Daichi into the picture with him and Shouyou then it was best to wait until he did.

Suga decided to ignore those signs.

He waited a couple of days until his confidence had grown, both of them sat on the floor of Daichi's larger office space to eat their packed lunches. He preferred to sit on his lap, but Ukai told them off loudly once for 'too much PDA in his company' as he walked past, so they had refrained since then.

"Daichi, I know it has only been a few weeks since we have become official." Suga said after a huge breath, twisting his hands in front of his body, "But I would like you to meet Shouyou."

Daichi's eyes widened momentarily, before becoming excited, despite the forced neutral face he was trying to keep.

"Are you sure?" He asked, placing his chopsticks on top of his lunchbox. By his expression, it was clear that he wanted it to be true.

"Mm." Suga knew that didn't sound convincing. "Actually, I am in a bit of a hurry about it."

"A hurry?"

"Tooru wants to throw a new year's eve party, and you are invited. More than invited, really, you're compulsory. So I want you to meet Shouyou before then."

"That's my birthday." Daichi said, thoughtfully, Suga's face immediately dropping.

"What, new year's eve?"

"Yes."

"Oh, well shit." Suga said, shaking his head fiercely, "Forget that, then. You probably have something planned already, right? Sorry I can't be there."

"I'm free, actually." Daichi said, "I'm up for attending the party."

"Do you really mean that?" Suga asked, shaking Daichi slightly by his shoulders, "Or are you just saying that because you can't resist anything I say?"

"You wish." Daichi laughed, pressing a kiss to his hand, "My roommate is quite traditional and is going home for the new year and I don't know _that_ many people in Tokyo yet, so it beats spending my birthday alone."

"I'd never let that happen." Suga insisted, and he meant it. Suddenly he felt less guilty about inviting Daichi to the party. "Just don't let Tooru know it's your birthday. He would try to do something, and that never ends well."

Daichi chuckled. He didn't flinch as Suga rested his head on his lap, nuzzling into his strong thighs. Ukai be dammed.

"Is this Saturday okay for meeting Shouyou?" He asked, eyes closing as a hand began to comb gently through his unruly hair.

"It sounds perfect."

 

The conversation with Daichi was the easy one. Suga already knew that he wanted to meet Shouyou, and he was clearly excited about the prospect. Talking to his son, however, was not a conversation that he was looking forward to. He was not sure how to tell Shouyou in a way that he would understand, or how he would react to the news. Suga was honestly frightened.

If Shouyou hated the concept and couldn't deal with it, his son would always win between him and his boyfriend. Suga didn't want to let go of either of them.

He took a deep breath and knocked on Shouyou's door.

"Yes?"

"Can I come in?"

Shouyou opened the door, standing in the frame looking slightly sleepy. He moved aside so Suga could enter, his sticker collection spread across his bed sheets.

"Shouyou, sweetie." Suga said, clearing a space for him to sit on the edge of his son's bed, "Can I talk to you about something?"

Shouyou's eyes immediately widened and he pulled the hood from his hoodie over his face as he sat down next to him.

"I didn't mean to eat the chocolate when you told me I couldn't have it before bed!" He said quickly, hiding the parts of his face that the hood couldn't cover with his hands, "I just saw it there and-"

"It's not that." Suga said, peeling his hands away so that he could look at him gently, before dropping his tone, "Although we will have _that_ conversation later."

"Oh." Shouyou said, removing his hood. He stared into Suga's eyes, willing to listen to him."What is it?"

Suga tried to remember the lines he had practised over and over in his head, the words becoming jumbled in his mind.

"You know how two people can sometimes like and care for each other a lot, just like Tobio's parents?"

"Yep?"

"Sometimes it's two girls, or two boys, or a girl and a boy. Or something even different to that."

"Yeah?" Shouyou tilted his head, his growing confusion becoming clearer.

"Well, um." Suga took another deep breath. It wasn't enough to calm him. "There is another man I am starting to like in that way, just like Tobio's parents, and I would like you to meet him."

Shouyou's face immediately split into a grin, his eyes playful.

"You have a boyfriend."

Suga had to swallow a gasp of surprise as embarrassment overtook him. Of course. Sometimes he forgot that Shouyou was no longer 3 years old and innocent about the world. He was 7, attended school, watched movies and was constantly exposed to the world around him. Of course he knew what a boyfriend was. The range of conversations they could have was becoming more sophisticated.

"Yes, that's right." Suga said slowly, Shouyou's grin almost widening, "Is that okay with you?"

"Yep!" He said, looking ecstatic, "Why wouldn't it be?"

"I don't know." Suga said honestly, "You might have just not liked it. Some children don't like it when their parents date other people."

"Ah, Yachi in my class doesn't like her mom's new boyfriend." Shouyou said, reclining across his bed on top of his stickers,"But I think it's cool!"

"Cool?"

"Yeah, like Kageyama has two dads! That's so cool! Two is better than one."

"It won't be quite like that." Suga said quickly, "He's not your dad."

Shouyou didn't seem to be listening, already excitedly bouncing on his bed. His smile warmed some of Suga's fears away.

"Uncle Tooru and Uncle Hajime always talk about how you need a boyfriend."

"Do they now." Suga muttered, making a mental note to punch them both later. Hard.

"Also I don't want you to be lonely." Shouyou said in a quieter voice, his bouncing stopped.

"I'm not lonely." Suga said, patting his son on the head, "I have you, sweetie."

"Mm, but it's different, right?" Shouyou said, "You need a lovey person like Uncle Tooru and Uncle Hajime to be kissey and cuddly with. They always look so happy."

So even Shouyou had noticed. His son could surprise him more each day.

"What's your boyfriend's name?" Shouyou continued to press, his usual smile returning. Suga relaxed further.

"Daichi, Sawamura Daichi."

"Sawamura-san?"

Suga paused. His boyfriend wouldn't want him to be so formal, but a slight distance could be good for now.

"You can call him Daichi-san."

Shouyou nodded, taking the information in. He repeated the name a few times in a quiet voice.

"Does he like volleyball?"

"He played until he graduated from University." Suga laughed, watching Shouyou's face fill with joy.

"Gwaah! What position?"

"Er, wing spiker. I think."

"A wing spiker?" Shouyou clapped his hands together, "A setter and a wing spiker just like Kageyama's dads! We can play a 3 vs 3 game and beat them!"

Suga cringed, shaking his head.

"Oh, I am pretty sure neither of us are _that_ level. Please don't get your hopes up, sweetie. I will never beat Tooru as a setter."

"You don't _know_ that."

"Yes I do." Suga said, tickling Shouyou on the stomach to get rid of the frown which was plaguing his face. "Is it okay for you to meet Daichi on Saturday?"

Shouyou nodded his head eagerly, wriggling away from the tickles.

"I can't wait to meet him!"

Suga ruffled his son's hair, relief flooding through him. Shouyou had taken the news much better than he could ever have imagined, not only accepting him having a boyfriend but encouraging it. The fights, reassurance, or confusion which he expected and tried to prepare for never appearing.

"Now, about the chocolate..."

 

Shouyou was sent to bed early, and was told that the current chocolate bar in the fridge was now Suga's. As expected his son protested, but the good mood he was previously in softened the blow. With only a short sulk he changed into his pyjamas and Suga turned off the light with a quick kiss.

Retreating into his own room, Suga propped himself up on his bed with a glass of red wine and took a short sip. His bed had always been too large for just him. It was only an ordinary double, nothing impressive, but it could feel like he was drowning within it on some of the longer nights. Suga closed his eyes and pictured Daichi lying next to him.

Daichi liked to cuddle him just as much as Suga liked to be cuddled, so it wasn't difficult to imagine the feel of his protective arms around him. The warmth of the sheets would increase, particularly important in these colder winter nights, and his musky scent would remain on the pillows.

Suga's eyes jerked open.

He picked up his phone and called Daichi's number.

"Come over to mine tomorrow night." Suga demanded as soon as the call connected, taking another sip of his wine."Stay overnight and I'll cook you dinner."

"Is that an euphemism?" Daichi asked, a smirk almost audible.

"What, like your invitation for coffee?" Suga laughed, hoping that the cough he heard through the speaker was out of embarrassment. "No, I really will cook you dinner."

"What if I'm busy tomorrow night? You never asked."

"I know you keep every other Friday open, just for me." Suga said lightly, "And you will be meeting Shouyou on Saturday so it's perfect. He's very excited to meet you too, by the way."

"Thank goodness." Daichi said, sounding much more worried about it than Suga thought he was. "Of course I will stay over, Suga. I hope you're a good cook."

They talked for another hour on the phone until Suga was betrayed by a stray yawn. Eyes beginning to hurt from being forced open he ended the call, getting ready for bed in record time. Perhaps tomorrow night his bed wouldn't feel so huge.

 

"I've never invited a man back to my place." Suga said the next night, as Daichi left his shoes next to Suga's in the entrance way, "You are the first."

"Wow, I must be special then." Daichi said, the joke almost sounding like a statement. His eyes drifted around the apartment.

"I'm sorry it's so small." Suga muttered, and his boyfriend shook his head feverishly.

"No, no. I was just thinking how homely it looks."

He walked towards the walls where the photos of Shouyou were hanging, showing the key milestones in his life. Suga was in some of them too, posing next to his son with his wide grin. Some showed Tobio too, the boys holding hands when they were younger. Daichi smiled.

"I'm actually going to cook us dinner, now." Suga said, turning on the stove, "So just sit down on the sofa and relax. Put the TV on."

"I'll help." Daichi said immediately, beginning to roll up the sleeves of his sweater. Suga shook his head.

"No, no. Sit down." He said, before twisting the corner of his mouth upwards, "But you have the right idea rolling up your sweater. It might get ruined when you eat. I think you should take the whole thing off."

"Suga, it's December. I'll freeze." Daichi rolled his eyes.

"I'll warm you up."

"I'm not falling for that." Daichi said, sitting down on the sofa with his sweater still firmly on, "Remember, you're a terrible flirt."

"And you're no fun." Suga pouted, "Maybe I won't let you have dessert later?"

"Let me guess, dessert is you?"

"You don't think I'm yummy?" He said, twirling around dramatically in the kitchen before striking an exaggerated pose.

"I didn't say that." Daichi said with a slight wink, heat beginning to spread to Suga's cheeks.

"No more talking." He said, turning his back to Daichi and trying to focus on his cooking despite being the one who initiated it, "Or I will burn everything."

 

Suga didn't cook anything special. He _couldn't_ cook anything special. Only passable in the kitchen, Suga made a slightly spicier than average curry, adding an extra kick to his own portion when it was served. Yet Daichi ate it eagerly, making sure to compliment Suga's cooking. It was almost too much. Suga was not used to so much praise, except from Tooru, but that was in a more theatrical way. Not quiet and honest like Daichi. It wasn't hard to steer the conversation in a new direction, though, Suga suddenly realising he had barely considered Daichi's birthday.

"What do you want as a present?" He asked, nudging his boyfriend with his foot under the table. "Y'know, for your birthday."

Daichi frowned, thinking the question over in his mind.

"What do people get for their 28th birthday? Are presents still a thing at that age?"

"For my 28th birthday, Tooru bought me a dildo and a tube of anti-ageing cream." Suga shrugged, Daichi almost choking on his spoonful of curry.

"Do you use it?"

"Well, it's quite big so I have to be in the right mood for it, but-"

"I meant the cream."

"Oh." Suga said, before leaning his chin on his hands and fluttering his eyelashes. "What do you think?"

"That you're a natural beauty?" Daichi said, Suga laughing.

"Thank you." He said, giving his brightest smile."But I do use the cream."

"And the dildo too, by the sounds of it."

"Yep." Suga said without any shame, "You're not interested in that sort of thing?"

"I'm sort of vanilla." Daichi admitted, a slight look of worry entering his features. Suga chuckled.

"Don't worry, I sort of figured that out." He said, the worry fading slightly, "But what sort of stuff _are_ you into?"

Before Daichi could answer, Suga suddenly leaned over and slapped his hand across his mouth, making sure he was unable to talk.

"Actually, don't tell me yet." He said, Daichi groaning as the hand was removed, "I wanna try working it out myself first."

"I wasn't going to say anything _anyway_." Daichi said, rolling his eyes. He turned his attention to the remainder of his dinner. "Because you are ridiculous."

"Am not!"

 

Dinner was finished with plenty of conversation, Daichi fitting into the atmosphere of his small home perfectly. He didn't seem out of place or awkward sitting around stray toys, family-friendly DVDs and the other details that made the space belong to him and Shouyou.

"I'm going to wash up." Daichi declared as Suga began to pile their dishes next to the sink, "So it is your turn to relax now."

"No, you're my guest." Suga tried to protest, starting the tap running.

"You cooked, the least I can do is clean."

Daichi took Suga by the hand and led him to his own sofa, lightly pushing him into the cushions where he fell with an exaggerated bounce. Before he had a chance to argue further, Daichi removed his sweater and rolled up the sleeves of his work shirt to reveal his toned arms. Perhaps having his boyfriend do the dishes after all wouldn't be so bad.

Suga kept his mouth quiet and eyes focused as he watched Daichi work. The tease of skin that he could see wasn't quite enough and his mind began to wander to picturing what was underneath the rest of his layers, piecing together the images from his memory. He longed to see Daichi's body again and feel it against his own. It was becoming too difficult to wait.

Leaving the sofa, Suga walked over to Daichi and slung his arms around his neck as he pressed himself into his back.

"I want you." He whispered into his ear, making sure to keep his voice as breathy as he could.

Daichi shuddered against him yet his voice remained even.

"After I do the dishes." He said, leaning back slightly into Suga's touch. Daichi wanted him too, that much was certain, and it sent a certain thrill through Suga as he realised the effect he could have upon him. Suga twirled Daichi around, taking his wrists to wipe his wet hands on his trousers as he stood slightly on his toes to meet his boyfriend's level.

"The dishes will wait, Daichi." Suga said, his lips hovering close to his and his voice in a low murmur, "They will wait."

Something snapped in Daichi. He crashed his lips onto Suga's in a bruising kiss. Momentarily taken aback, it took a few seconds for Suga to relax into the kiss, wrapping his arms around his waist.

Suga's bedroom was mere steps away from the kitchen, both of them stumbling through the door without being bothered to close it with their lips locked.

Kisses turned heated quickly. Suga moaned unabashedly into Daichi's mouth, seemingly spurring him on as a knee pressed between his thighs. He muttered a curse under his breath as Suga threw his head back, grinding his crotch against the knee.

Daichi nuzzled his face into his neck, inhaling his scent before pressing kisses to his pale skin and sucking marks into his collar.

"You smell so good." He groaned, a whimper pulled from Suga's throats with the words.

His hands reached to cup Daichi's firm ass, the knee slipping away as he tried to bring his body impossibly closer to his. With his erection pressing urgently into his thigh, Suga could feel how much Daichi wanted him too which only made each touch feel even more electric.

Suga rutted into his heat as Daichi replaced their lips, sucking almost desperately on the tongue in his mouth. He kept his grip on his ass, pulling them tighter together with every jut of his hips. Groans fell from Daichi's mouth with the movements which Suga eagerly swallowed, his hands running from his hips to his thighs until resting on his chest. Suga's own erection was painfully trapped in his slacks, the friction from the fabric now starting to become too uncomfortable.

"Too much clothing." He whined, pulling away from Daichi with the last of his willpower.

Daichi let Suga reach out and unbutton his shirt slowly, slipping the garment off his broad shoulders where it crumpled onto the floor. Not an inch of embarrassment overcame his features as Suga once again stared at him, letting his eyes take in every part of Daichi's chest.

"God, you really do work out..." He whispered.

Suga traced the lines of Daichi's stomach with his fingertips, moving up to his chest before lazily rubbing over his dark nipples. His breath hitched as Suga gave them a slight pinch, before his hands trailed back down until they rested against the waistband of his trousers.

"These off too."

Daichi unzipped his flies, Suga helping him to shimmy out of his trousers until he was standing in only his underwear. It was impossible for his gaze to ignore the large bulge in his underwear, a small damp patch near the head. Suga swore, dropping to his knees before thinking and pressing his face against his crotch and taking a deep sniff. He didn't know that sweat could smell so good, the thick manly scent coating his nostrils before he ran his tongue along the clothed shaft and mouthing at the light material.

"You're so naughty." Daichi groaned, his face already coated in a pink sheen. Suga moved away from his crotch with a grin, standing up and using his biggest eyes.

"Oh so naughty." He said, wrapping his arms around Daichi's neck and looking up to hold his gaze, "Are you gonna punish me? Put me across your knee and spank me? Is that what you're into?"

Daichi shook his head, slipping his arms around Suga's waist and keeping him close with a tiny smile.

"I'm gonna take care of you."

Suga tilted his head, hair flopping in front of his eyes.

"Huh?"

"You always look after everyone else, always take on all of the stress, so I'm gonna take care of you for a change."

Pressing a kiss to Suga's temple and cheek, their previous passion suddenly turning into something sweeter, Daichi began to unbutton his shirt.

"Wait..."

Daichi stopped immediately, dropping his hands and looking at him full of concern.

"If you don't want this..."

Suga shook his head, placing Daichi's hands back on his shirt to help slip it off.

"I do. It's just standing next to you I seem so-"

"Beautiful."Daichi said, silencing anymore of Suga's words with a long kiss. "So, so beautiful. I won't hear otherwise."

"Says a guy who practically looks like a Greek god." Suga said, a small sigh leaving his lips as his trousers and boxers were pulled down, finally freeing his erection.

Daichi ignored his comment, letting Suga use his broad shoulders to keep his steady as he stepped out of his clothes, body naked to the December air. He shivered, the heater not doing enough to keep his warm.

"Lie down."

Suga's body involuntary shuddered at the soft command, unrelated to the cold, as he lay down on top of his bed sheets. Daichi straddled his body, providing a much needed heat with his hard muscle pressing against him. Hands and lips wandering, Daichi explored Suga's body; tracing the curves of his hips and shape of his thighs, tangling his fingers in the mass of soft, grey hair above his cock.

"Every part of you is so beautiful." He said, voice rougher than usual as his hips began to grind slowly against Suga, "I love touching you like this. Feeling your skin against me."

"I don't have a praise kink, Daichi." Suga breathed, arching slightly into his touch, "Not unless I am the one giving it."

"You say that." Daichi said, tracing a line around Suga's nipples with his fingertips, "But your whole body has flushed pink."

And it had- Suga lifting his head up to see his pale skin take on a peachy glow. He rested his head back onto the pillow, turning to the side so that he could no longer meet Daichi's gaze.

"It's the heater's fault."

Daichi hummed, fingers continuing to move slowly before suddenly grabbing Suga's cock in his large palm.

Suga moaned instantly. His voice was embarrassingly loud and high pitched before fading into deeper groans as Daichi began to move his hand. With his grip firm and thumb playing with the head which was already leaking Daichi pumped his cock steadily, the feel of another's hand almost overwhelming.

"So good Daichi." Suga could barely control his movements, hips rutting up into his boyfriend's fist with each stroke and loving the feeling of Daichi's own erection rutting into his thighs, "Don't stop."

Daichi's speed increased, a constant stream of breathy praise against Suga's ear as his mind became unable to focus on the words anymore as he lost himself to the pleasure that his boyfriend was giving him. There was a twist of the wrist and the grip tightened, his own precome as lubricant against his length.

"Daichi- shit, _shit,_ nearly there _._ " Suga panted quickly, hips lifting off the bed as they moved uncontrollably, "Shit, shit-"

The movements stopped. Daichi let go of Suga's cock, letting it flop back against his stomach. Eyes widening, he began to come down from the high that he had almost reached. 

"You're so cruel!" Suga whined, curling his toes into the sheets and waving his arms wildly, "What happened to taking care of me?"

"Don't worry, baby. I will." Daichi said, giving his shoulder a squeeze as he stood up, "Where do you have lube?"

Suga swallowed, his hope rekindled with the question.

"Bottom drawer, at the back." His legs widened instinctively, giving a few pumps of his erection to keep it interested. "The condoms are there too."

Daichi took his time preparing Suga. He was even slower than their first time, easing his thick fingers in with plenty of lube and stretching him gently. It was almost relaxing; Daichi's fingers pushing in deep enough and moving just the right amount for Suga to feel it, but the slow pace allowing him to breathe easy with his eyes resting closed.

"You're nearly ready for me." Daichi murmured, speaking wetly against his ear. His erection was leaking onto his thigh, creating a sticky mess that Suga found more appealing than off-putting.

"I've been ready for weeks." Suga managed to laugh, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek. "Take me."

Daichi gave a smile in return, pulling out his fingers slowly and wiping them onto the sheets. Opening a packet quickly, he slid the condom down his length and coated it with lube before positioning himself at Suga's entrance.

His breath caught in his throat from anticipation as his boyfriend's cock rubbed against his stretched hole before finally pushing in. The burn mixed with pleasure causing strange noises to be ripped from his throat, tears spilling down his cheek as he twisted the sheets in his hands. Daichi leaned over and kissed them away as he pushed himself further inside, his own breathing uneven.

"Suga, fuck, you feel so good around me." He cursed, pushing himself into the hilt with his balls pressing against the curve of Suga's ass. His body felt so full, stretched wonderfully with the girth of his boyfriend's cock.

"Call me Koushi." He said, his own name coming out half panted, "When we are alone call me Koushi."

"Koushi." Daichi tried out with a small thrust, Suga unable to stop himself from groaning as he heard his name from his lips for the first time, "Can I move?"

"God yes."

Daichi was holding back, he could tell. His thrusts were careful, hitting into him with just a hint of what he could give and barely brushing his prostate. Knowing his boyfriend, he was probably worried about hurting him with his full strength. Suga wanted him to let go.

"C'mon Daichi." He whined, trying to push his body further down into him, "Fuck me how you wanna. I can take it."

"Koushi, baby-"

" _Please_."

Suga wasn't above begging. Not when Daichi needed that extra bit of encouragement to give him what he really wanted.

"God, Koushi, the things you say." Daichi said, brushing sweat drenched hair from Suga's forehead.

He pulled out his cock until he had almost left Suga's body before _slamming_ back inside. The difference was immediate. Suga screamed loud enough to disturb the neighbours, clawing his nails onto Daichi's back as he rammed into his prostate with a force he had craved. Daichi's grip was bruising on his hips as he used them as leverage, holding back Suga's legs with his other hand as he continued a brutal pace with low grunts leaving his throat.

Suga was already close, one of his hands abandoning the mark-making on his boyfriend's back as it moved to jerk his own cock in time with the thrusts.

"Daichi, Daichi..." He repeated his name like a mantra, as though it was the only thing he was capable of saying. And maybe it was as Suga began to lose control completely.

"Koushi, you're so good for me, so beautiful." Suga managed to hear Daichi say over his own throaty sounds, beads of sweat dripping into his stomach.

"Gonna come." Suga panted, his own hand jerking himself quicker, "Ahh, fuck, can't hold back."

"Yeah, that's it baby." Daichi said, resting his head in the crook of his neck as he thrust harder, "Come for me Koushi, c'mon you can do it-"

Suga made no sound, his throat refusing to work any longer, as his cock spurted between them and his back arched at a beautiful angle. Daichi fucked him through his orgasm, not slowing down as he began to crash down from the high.

"Ah, wait- too sensitive." Suga squealed, twisting his body around as the sensations became too much.

"Alright, sorry baby." Daichi said, running his hands through Suga's damp hair as he pulled out, the sound of it obscene.

"Come on my body, _please_."

Daichi blinked, removing the condom and tossing it into the nearby bin.

"What?"

"I want you to jerk yourself off onto me, cover me _please_."

Suga's stomach was already sticky with his own come which had began to dry, it's sheen catching the light of the bedroom lamp. Daichi made a low noise deep in his throat. He re-straddled Suga, pumping his cock furiously over his body. It wasn't long before he was coming too, Suga's name on his lips as he collapsed against him panting.

Neither of them talked, simply resting and breathing heavily against each other in their own mess. Suga's hand found it's way into Daichi's short hair, lazily running it's way through the strands. Their chests rose and fell together, heartbeats in sync.

"We should clean up." Daichi said eventually, although he did not move from his position.

"Too much effort." Suga said, eyes already heavy and sleep creeping up on him.

"We can't sleep like this."

"Want a bet?"

Daichi lifted his body away from Suga's with a grunt, stretching his back out. He stood up unsteadily, face looking as drowsy as Suga felt.

"Are there washcloths in the bathroom that we can use?"

"Plenty." Suga said, relaxing back into the sheets, "Mine are the plain looking ones. Should be obvious, they don't have Doraemon on them."

Suga almost drifted asleep before Daichi returned from the bathroom with a damp cloth. He wiped him down carefully, making sure not to miss any spots on his body until he was clean enough to be passable for the rest of the night. Finding enough energy, Suga crawled underneath the sheets and held out his arms, Daichi fitting himself between them quickly.

"I always saw you as more of the holdee instead of the holder." Daichi said, although he wasn't complaining as he snuggled closer into Suga. He was heavy against him but the weight felt perfect.

"I can like both, right?" Suga muttered, enjoying the warmth of his body pressed against him.

"You can. I do too."

So many feelings began to fill his mind, the aftermath of sex making him emotional. They were big feelings that he did not yet feel ready to tackle, short words which he knew he was definitely not yet ready to say. But the thought of them were still there, something he couldn't ignore completely. 

"What should I call you in front of Shouyou tomorrow?" Daichi asked, lazily pressing kisses against Suga's chest.

"That's a good question." Suga said, closing his eyes as he thought about the answer. "You can just call me Koushi."

"Alright." Daichi said, sighing contently against him, "Sweet dreams Koushi."

"Sweet dreams Daichi."

 

Suga woke before his alarm. He shifted in his bed, arms feeling empty compared to when he fell asleep. Daichi was still sleeping next to him with his back to him, breathing steadily. Shuffling closer to him, Suga slid his arms around his waist, nuzzling his nose into his back. Daichi stirred, appearing to be a lighter sleeper than he looked. He stretched, almost throwing Suga off him with the movement, and rolled to face him with his eyes still closed.

"Mornin' baby." Daichi said, Suga laughing with how ridiculous he looked.

"At least try to look semi awake before saying that." He said, lifting up his eyelids with his fingers.

"I'll try." Daichi's eyes were now open, looking at Suga with so much affection that he felt embarrassed, especially in his still naked state.

"Do you want breakfast?" Suga asked, no longer meeting his gaze, "Or do you want to lie here for a bit longer?"

"Both would be good." Daichi said, eyes slipping back closed, Suga unable to help grinning at his unusual needy requests. He stood up, slipping his nearby robe onto his body, before placing a wet kiss to Daichi's slightly stubbly cheek.

"Both it is."

Throughout the morning as they got ready to leave out Daichi began to look more and more nervous, his naturally tanned skin almost looking the same colour as Suga's own. He sighed, whacking him on the shoulder.

"Why do you look like the world is ending?"

"What if Shouyou doesn't like me?" Daichi said, putting on the spare clothes he had brought for the day. "I wouldn't know what to do if he took one look and hated me."

"He's a friendly kid, it'd be harder to find someone who he _doesn't_ like." Suga reasoned, making sure he had everything he needed in his bag. "Even the people he says he doesn't like he usually does really. Like his friend Kei."

"I don't know what to say to him."

"Shouyou will probably do most of the talking, to be honest." Suga said, "But seriously, Daichi. Stop freaking out or I will punch you."

"You always resort to violence." Daichi said jokingly, looking slightly less worried. "I'll try to calm down."

They parted ways after they left the apartment, Daichi going ahead to secure a table at the restaurant while Suga went to pick Shouyou up from volleyball practice. As usual, the Iwaizumi's were already outside the gym, Tooru grinning widely as he approached.

"Ready for the big day?" He asked loudly, clapping his hands together, "For our little Shouyou-chan to meet your big, hunky Daichi. Or should I say Dadchi?"

Suga groaned, rubbing his forehead with his hands.

"Iwaizumi, can I have your permission to punch your husband?"

"Sure." Iwaizumi shrugged as he leaned against the wall, "I can't bring myself to hit his pretty face anymore, so it will be good to have someone else do it for me."

"Iwa-chan!" Tooru whined, before his face suddenly changed to realisation, "You called me pretty!"

"Just your face. Your personality is shitty."

The opening of the gym doors interrupted their argument, Shouyou bounding up to them with more energy than usual and Tobio trailing behind him.

"Let's go dad, quickly!" He said, tugging on Suga's arm and trying to lead him towards the exit. "I wanna meet your boyfriend!"

"Shouyou, wait!" Suga stopped him in his tracks, making his son stand still. He could feel his face burning up, Shouyou speaking loud enough for everyone around them to hear. "At least say goodbye to everyone before you run off, and thank you to Tobio's parents for looking after you for the night."

"Thank you!" Shouyou said, barely sparing them a glance before continuing to rush forward.

"Ah sorry- see you later!" Suga called towards his friends as he ran towards his son.

Tooru was laughing hard. Suga could hear his wails of delight from the other end of the corridor, probably getting a kick out of how Shouyou outed him in front of all the other parents. He tried not to focus on that, catching up to Shouyou and forcing his pace to slow down. This was not about anyone else. This moment was just for them.

The family restaurant Suga had chosen was one that he regularly went to with Shouyou. He felt it would be best for his son to be in a familiar atmosphere for the meeting to help them feel more relaxed. As they entered, Suga scanned his eyes quickly through the packed tables until they rested on Daichi alone on a table in the corner. He stood up clumsily from his seat when their eyes met, face terrified. Suga tried to swallow his own doubts, leading his excitable child towards the table.

Shouyou did not say anything as they reached Daichi, his lack of speech worrying. Suga was unable to read his expression which was a rarity for him as he prided himself on knowing his son. He glanced over at him, his small hands twisting the orange strands of his fringe. Something had to be said to break the ice.

"Shouyou, this is my boyfriend; Sawamura Daichi." Suga said, finding a slight waver in his own voice. "And Daichi, this is my son Hinata Shouyou."

"Nice to meet you, Shouyou." Daichi said, the nervousness he felt showing through the in odd smile on his face. "I really hope that we can get along."

There was a short silence, Suga beginning to question whether he had made the right choice, before his son broke out into a huge grin.

"Uwaah!" Shouyou yelled, Suga cringing at the volume as he leapt around on the spot, "You look so strong! Can I see you spike?"

"Sure. But I'm better at receiving." Daichi said, looking noticeably more relaxed than when they first entered the restaurant.

"Really?" Shouyou looked even more excited if that was possible, "Kageyama always says I suck at receiving, although he is _wrong_ , so can you teach me? Can you?"

"Calm down, sweetie. You've just met." Suga groaned, bopping him on the head slightly as he pushed him into the restaurant chair, "Choose what you want to order."

Daichi sat back down in his own seat sitting opposite them, his smile now looking much more genuine than before. Perhaps this was going to be okay.

"What sort of food do you like, Shouyou?" He asked, clearly trying hard to communicate with him despite his slight awkwardness.

"I like egg on rice dishes and meat buns." Shouyou announced, staring at Daichi with shining wide eyes over the kid's menu, "Do you like super spicy food too, like dad?"

"Not particularly." Daichi laughed, "I like ramen the best."

"Then make sure you go to eat ramen too sometimes." Shouyou said strangely seriously, looking over at Suga, "Or Daichi-san will be sad and won't want to be your boyfriend anymore. "

" _Shouyou_." Suga hissed, wishing the ground underneath him would swallow him up. Luckily Daichi had a good sense of humour, laughing aloud.

"Don't worry about that, Shouyou." He reached across the table and patted his hair with a light, tentative touch. "Your dad is more important to me than ramen."

That seemed to satisfy Shouyou, his face beaming with the slight skinship.

They ordered their food, Shouyou talking non-stop to Daichi with barely a moment's quiet. Suga himself found it hard to get a word in, glad that his son was able to relax so easily around his boyfriend despite having just met. Any trepidation that Daichi felt too seemed to be lessened.

"Can I make the drinks?" Shouyou asked as their food arrived, waving his hands excitedly enough to knock the food from the table.

Daichi didn't say anything, looking over at Suga who shrugged.

"Sure." He said, "I'll have a cola. You can't, though. Make yourself a juice or calpis. Daichi?"

"I'll take a cola too."

"Don't try to show off and carry 3 glasses at one time." Suga warned, Shouyou nodding with a slight look of annoyance, "Make 2 trips. Alright?"

" _Alright._ " Shouyou agreed before skipping off across the restaurant.

"Should we go and watch to make sure he is okay?" Daichi asked, shooting a quick glance to the area of the drinks bar.

"Nah, he will be fine." Suga said, tidying away the menus in their stands, "It's only over there and he likes making the drinks. A 7 year old can manage that much. Although spillage is a high possibility."

"I guess I am still not sure what a 7 year old can and can't do." Daichi sighed, resting his back against the chair, "I need to learn more."

"You are doing fine so far." Suga insisted, "Shouyou seems to like you, and that is what matters."

"I'm so thankful for that." Daichi said, wiping off a thin layer of sweat that had formed on his forehead with the table napkin. "I like him too. He's a great kid."

"He's not..." Suga tried to make sense of the emotions running through him. "Too much?"

"Not at all." Daichi rested his elbows onto the table and leaned towards Suga. "He reminds me of you."

"And that's a good thing?"

"Very."

Suga rested his own elbows on the table, leaning to meet Daichi half way. Their lips were close, and he could almost feel their plumpness against him already.

"Are you gonna kiss?" Shouyou asked suddenly, putting two glasses of cola on the table while wrinkling his nose, "Because kisses are gross."

"No, no we are not." Suga said quickly, pulling away in an instant. "Go and make the last drink."

"Okay, okay." Shouyou began to head back towards the drinks bar.

Suga waited until he was gone before leaning back over and kissing Daichi briefly on the lips, so fast that they barely brushed.

"Thank you." He said quietly, eyes cast down, "All of this means a lot."

Shouyou returned before Daichi could reply, although the warmth in his smile told him all he needed to know.

 

"Can we go to the park and play volleyball?"

"Shouyou it's cold outside, we will freeze to death." Suga rolled his eyes. "And Daichi probably has things to do, too. We can't keep him all day."

"Just for half an hour?" Shouyou was using his biggest eyes, blinking up through his long lashes. A trick almost certainly learnt from himself and Tooru. "I even have my volleyball here."

He reached into his bag and pulled out his children's volleyball, holding it proudly in the air. It was much softer than a normal volleyball and smaller too, perfect for children just starting to learn how to play. Shouyou's was well worn from use, patches of tape across ripped fabric which just screamed to be thrown away. Yet it was his first volleyball and he loved it.

"Well just half an hour couldn't hurt, Suga." Daichi said, "I'm up for it, if it is okay with you."

"Please dad?"

Suga groaned, grabbing the receipt to take to the counter.

"Fine, don't blame me if we all get a cold."

 

Suga allowed Daichi to pay for their meals, just this once, as they left the restaurant and headed towards the park. Shouyou walked in the middle, one hand in each of their palms, linking the three of them together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! :)
> 
> I can't believe that this took me over a month to update, I am so sorry! I am going to try hard to return to my fortnightly schedule. This chapter is super long too, I can't believe how it got so long...I didn't mean for it to be!
> 
> Once again, thank you so much for reading! If you enjoyed it please let me know! :)


	7. Chapter 7

"Daichi-san!"

Shouyou shot towards the door as soon as the doorbell rang before Suga could get there, swinging it wide open and jumping straight into the not-yet-open arms of Daichi. Luckily, he was much stronger than Suga was, picking Shouyou up as though it was effortless before swinging him around and placing him back on solid ground with a laughed greeting.

"Shouyou, be more careful. Don't just open the door like that, what if it wasn't Daichi?" Suga tried to scold his son but he wasn't listening- too busy flitting around his boyfriend's feet to pay attention. He rolled his eyes, pushing Shouyou lightly out the way to pull Daichi properly inside, leaning upwards to peck him on the lips.

"Ew! You kissed!" Shouyou exclaimed, making sounds of disgust although his face looked delighted, "Kageyama always complains about how his dads kiss too much. Now I can complain about kissing too!"

"Oh, please don't." Suga groaned. Daichi's expression was stuck between embarrassment and amusement. "Run off and give us a moment to ourselves."

With an exaggerated eye roll Shouyou complied, shooting off into his bedroom with a mutter about probably only wanting to kiss some more. That was undeniable. Suga waited until he could hear the sound of his door close before relaxing, dropping the tension from his shoulders and placing his lips back onto Daichi's. He kissed back, wrapping his arms around Suga until they parted with a smile.

"Welcome." Suga murmured against his lips, enjoying the feel of a strong hand caressing his back.

"Thank you for having me." Daichi said, letting go of Suga's back to reach for something on the floor."This is for Shouyou, for Christmas." Daichi said, slipping him a considerable sized bag behind his back. He widened his eyes, rushing it behind the small tree in the living room before shaking his boyfriend's shoulders roughly.

" _Daichi_." He hissed, giving the shoulder a harder than needed whack, "I told you not to. I haven't..."

"I don't need anything, Koushi." Daichi said, raising his hand to stroke it lightly across Suga's cheek."I _wanted_ to get something for Shouyou."

Eyes instinctively closing for a moment with the contact, Suga relaxed into a smile.

"He will appreciate it. So do I. Thank you." He gave Daichi's shoulder another squeeze, this time lighter, before placing a kiss over the spot. "Are you sure you are fine staying the night? It may be hectic and we have work tomorrow."

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't okay with it." Daichi insisted. "Besides, Christmas Eve should be spent with the ones you care about."

Suga could not help the heat that rushed to his cheeks with those words. He slapped Daichi lightly on his ass in response, jumping out of the way with a laugh as he tried to retaliate.

This was the third time that Daichi had spent any time with Shouyou in as many weeks, but the first time that he would be staying the night in the apartment with the child also present. Spending a couple of hours with Shouyou in a public place was a lot different to spending almost a full day and night together, and Suga was not sure how it would go. It was a big step for them all. The slow pace he had planned to set was tumbling out of Suga's control as their relationship began to move faster than he had wanted.

Yet, the speed seemed unavoidable. Suga wanted to be with Daichi as much as possible, the man already becoming a big presence in his life, and that in turn required Shouyou to be around a lot of the time. It was frankly scary. Only a couple of months ago it was just him and his son, but now Daichi was someone who he thought of constantly and was becoming dependant of his touch.

Shouyou had already seemed to be used to Daichi and relaxed himself completely around him. Some of his mischievous side had started to come out and Suga was unsure how Daichi would react if there was a sudden tantrum.

The thought of losing Daichi due to his family situation still could not be shook from his mind. It was still easy for him to change his mind about dating a single father. There was still plenty of time to decide it was too much.

 

"You can dump your bag in my room." Suga said louder now that their private talk was finished, gesturing towards his door, "And I'll make you a drink. Hot chocolate or coffee?"

"Hot chocolate please!" Shouyou answered before Daichi could, his mop of orange hair peeking out of his bedroom door at the question, "With mini-marshmallows and whipped cream."

"I'll have the same." Daichi said with a cheeky grin as he disappeared with his bag into the bedroom.

"You'll both be lucky." Suga muttered as Shouyou came back into the living room and flopped onto the sofa with a manga comic, "I'm not sure I have any marshmallows."

It turned out that Suga did have mini-marshmallows and the whipped cream and he went overboard with them in their drinks while fixing a black coffee for himself. Daichi took his cup gratefully as he settled on the sofa next to Shouyou, peering over at the manga he was reading.

"I've got some designs to finish." Suga said, unsure why he felt so nervous around his own boyfriend in his own home, "Is it okay if I worked for a bit?"

"Of course." Daichi frowned, "Don't feel like you need to do anything different just because I'm here. Do you need any help with the maths side of things?"

"No, no." Suga grabbed his laptop and shoved his USB stick into it, "You can just entertain the little prince over there or he will get whiny."

"I don't get whiny." Shouyou _whined,_ pouting over at Suga before turning his attention to Daichi. "Can you get my drink for me please?"

"Don't!" Suga yelled, racing over to Daichi who had already began to stand up and pushing him forcefully back onto the sofa. "He will become spoilt and lazy. Shouyou, stop being spoilt and lazy. Get your own drink."

Shouyou grumbled all the way to the table, grabbing the drink, before stomping back onto the sofa. Suga held his breath as he turned back to his laptop. He didn't want to see the expression on Daichi's face. He did not want to see if Daichi looked like he might be regretting his decision. Suga prayed in his mind for Shouyou to behave.

"Are you looking forward to seeing the illuminations tonight, Shouyou?" He heard Daichi ask, his voice gentle, "I heard they are supposed to be especially beautiful this year."

"Really? That's so cool!" Suga let out a sigh as Shouyou's mood appeared to change instantly. He peered over to see a wide grin across his face, eyes wide and excited. "I bet they are going to be all bright and gwaaah!"

Daichi laughed, the sound causing a smile to spread across Suga's face as well.

"I'm sure they will be."

 

While Suga tried to finish his work as quickly as possible Daichi continued to chat with Shouyou as they drank their hot chocolate. As usual Shouyou steered the conversation, happy to ramble for a long time and switching topics quickly. Suga was not sure how Daichi managed to keep up with him.

"Dad?" He heard Shouyou ask after his drink was finished and he placed his empty cup on the table, "Can I play some Mario kart with Daichi-san?"

"You know the rules, sweetie." Suga said firmly, once again hoping there would not be an argument, "If you want to play video games then you need to do a page of your workbook first. Today is maths."

"I hate these new rules." Shouyou muttered, his mood turning darker.

"I know, sweetie." Suga tried, "But we talked about this. You said you wanted to try to do more work too."

And they had talked about it. Shouyou had admitted that he hated being one of the lowest in his class and that he wanted to do some extra work at home to try and catch up with some of the others. It was becoming clear to Suga that Shouyou might not be the best natural academic, but he wanted to show him that with a bit of hard work it was possible to improve. Suga was afraid of him losing his confidence in only his first year of school.

"The maths problems are difficult." Shouyou said. His voice was quiet, as though he did not want to admit it.

"I'll help you sweetie."Suga said, saving his work on his laptop. "We can do it together."

Shouyou frowned, shaking his head.

"If it's kanji that's okay, but you're not so good at teaching maths."

"Thanks." Suga muttered, leaning against the backrest of his chair.

"How about I help you, Shouyou?" Daichi said, picking up the workbook from the nearby shelf and opening it on the table in front of them, "I know a way which would make you understand it better."

Shouyou turned his head, looking at Daichi with curious eyes.

"Are you good at maths?"

Suga snorted.

"I'm better than your Dad."

"Oi!" Suga said, raising his head from his work and shooting a deep glare in Daichi's direction, "Anyone can do first grade maths, c'mon."

"I can't." Shouyou whispered, guilt running through Suga instantly.

"Of course you can." Daichi said quickly before Suga could speak, patting the seat next to him at the table. "Watch this."

Within seconds Shouyou was by Daichi's side, eyes glued to the open page he was holding open as he began to speak. Suga watched too over the top of his laptop, interested in how his boyfriend was going to explain the problems to his son.

"Think about this as a line of volleyball players." Daichi started, doodling stick figures on to the page. At least Suga was confident that his art skills were better, even if his maths wasn't. "And they need to pass the ball down like this. They start at player one, and they need to pass the ball eight times. So let's count 8."

Shouyou eagerly counted to eight aloud, running his finger across each drawn player.

"Player nine!" He shouted after a moment, staring up at Daichi with his biggest eyes as though he was waiting for praise.

"That's good!" Daichi responded, Shouyou only seeming to become happier with the positive words, "Now let's do the same thing but a bit trickier, like the problems in your book. Let's start at player 6, and this time they need to pass backwards..."

Suga had never seen Shouyou be so positive towards his studies, or so many smiles from him while doing it. Daichi showered him in the praise that he needed, his method of teaching seeming as though Shouyou was starting to understand how to do the problems.

They finished the page of the book quickly before being able to play Mario Kart. Suga was able to finish his work in time to join them for the last couple of rounds, unable to stop himself from being overly competitive with Daichi. It wasn't long until the day began to fade into evening and the sky outside was turning dark.

Suga put down the game controller, stretching his legs from the sofa.

"It's nearly time to go out, sweetie." Suga said, running his hands through Shouyou's soft hair, "Go to the bathroom and start getting your coat and scarf on."

"Yay! Illuminations!" Shouyou squealed, jumping off the sofa and rushing into the bathroom.

"How did you do that?" Suga said, looking over at the notes Daichi had scribbled down. "The maths, I mean?"

"If you like a subject than it's easier to find a way to make it fun." Daichi shrugged, "You hate maths so you might have a natural resistance even when teaching it."

"Maybe." Suga considered. He didn't want to think that he was passing on any negative feelings towards the subject to Shouyou. "C'mon, let's get ready ourselves. I want to go before it gets too late."

 

Illuminations were all over Japan around the Christmas period, and some had already caught Suga's eye during his nightly commute. However there was something special about going to see a big display on Christmas Eve with two people he cared about. It was the first Christmas Eve that Suga could say he had a boyfriend for, and his heart jumped with that thought.

As was tradition, the area where the lights were was packed with couples, showing an amount of PDA not usually seen. If Shouyou noticed this, however, he did not let it show. He skipped along, marvelling at the lights and twirling through the streets. Bright hair covered in a pair of earmuffs, Suga could not deny how cute his son looked.

"It's crowded, so stay close." He said, making sure to not take his eye from him.

"Yeah, yeah." Shouyou said, already beginning to stray away from his side. Suga reached out and grabbed his wrist, trying to slot their hands together but his son's fist was closed.

" _Shouyou_." Suga warned.

"I'm not a baby."

"You don't have to be a baby to hold hands. Look." Daichi said, suddenly speaking up. In an instant his hand arm was reaching out, and he took Suga's hand in his own, his palms warming up the coldness of his own.

Daichi was usually never so bold. He held onto Suga's hand as though it was natural, as though they were used to that, giving it a small squeeze for good measure. It was difficult to fight the blush threatening to climb onto Suga's cheeks.

Shouyou considered them for a moment before nodding.

"Okay." He said, "But I want to hold both of your hands."

Daichi seemed to let his hand linger in Suga's for a moment before pulling it away, both of them grabbing onto either side of Shouyou who beamed at the contact.

They walked together through the crowds, squeezing through the people who were huddled together for both warmth and the magic of Christmas love. Shouyou seemed to relish his position in the middle, swinging their arms together as he practically skipped along.

"Wow, these lights are amazing." Shouyou said as they made it further into the display, strangely quiet as he took in all of the twinkles and shines surrounding them.

"They are." Suga and Daichi both said at the same time. They stared at each other for a moment before laughing, another sort of warmth beginning to fill him.

"Can we get hot melon bread?" Shouyou asked, pointing over at a stall selling the treats. Suga smiled, pulling out his wallet and handing him a crisp note.

"Go on then. Get three."

There was a short queue for the stall but Suga could see Shouyou clearly from where he was standing. He slipped his arm around Daichi's, moving a step closer to him.

"I'm sorry our Christmas eve couldn't just be the two of us." Suga said, squeezing Daichi's arm, "It isn't so romantic."

"It's more than enough to just be able to spend it with you." Daichi said, the cheesy words ringing with a sense of sincerity which made heat rush through his cold body.

They stood for a bit longer under the lights, watching Shouyou move slowly through the queue. A faint icy chill blew through the air, Suga's grip on Daichi's arm tightening instinctively. He seemed to notice, his arm slipping around Suga's slim waist and bringing him closer. Looking up, Suga managed to catch Daichi's gaze, a silent longing passed between them.

"Kiss me."

Suga did not mean the words as a question, and to his relief Daichi didn't hesitate.

Daichi's lips were always warm against his, moving in a light caress which left tingles across each place they touched. Their hands moved to interlock, keeping a slight distance between their bodies at the sweet kiss, like a whisper being passed between them.

"You're kissing again." Shouyou said, breaking the magic as he stood in front of them clutching a bag of melon bread. Despite the accusatory tone in his words he was smiling, his face lighting up enough to compete with the illuminations.

They laughed, Daichi moving to rustle his hair.

"It's hard to help sometimes." He said so sincerely Suga wanted to laugh further.

"That's okay." Shouyou reached into the bag and gave Daichi a melon bread, "I give you permission."

A month ago Suga could not imagine kissing someone in front of his son, or having that same person walk beside Shouyou with their hands joined together. Yet here he was now with Shouyou being accepting of him in a relationship and Daichi accepting of his son.

Somehow the lights looked even more beautiful than usual.

 

"It's time to brush your teeth and get ready for bed."

It was past Shouyou's bedtime when they returned to the apartment, tiredness suddenly seeming to hit the boy as he let out a large yawn. He nodded sleepily, heading to the bathroom immediately to brush his teeth. Suga settled on the sofa with Daichi, talking lightly until Shouyou crossed the room to enter his bedroom.

"I'm going to put Shouyou to bed." Suga said, rising from the sofa and looking towards his son's door, "I'll be back after I have read him a story."

"Can I say goodnight too?" Daichi asked, raising from the sofa, "I could even read the book."

It couldn't do any harm for Daichi to share that moment with Shouyou. In all honesty Suga enjoyed the short time they spent together before he slept, especially when he was busy with work and did not find the time to shower Shouyou in the attention he deserved during the day. With Shouyou growing up so fast Suga knew the time that he had left to be able to do this was short.

"We are reading Harry Potter." Suga said, gesturing Daichi to follow him, "The book has furigana so I have encouraged him to read by himself sometimes too but it seems he isn't much of a reader. He prefers to listen."

Suga ended up reading only a couple of pages from the book, Shouyou too sleepy to listen properly and soon fell asleep during the middle of a page. With a smile, he leaned over and kissed him on the forehead before they both left the room and closed the door quietly behind them.

"This is where my evenings become peaceful. Wine?" Suga offered, dimming the lights in the room.

"Oh yes please." Daichi said, sounding almost too eager. Suga chuckled.

"So he did manage to tire you out too eventually, then?" He asked, pouring them both a glass.

"Being energetic is a good thing." Daichi said, as though he was trying to convince himself, eyes closing for a moment as he lay back against the sofa cushions. Suga snuggled into his side, wrapping an arm across his broad middle as he took a sip from the wine in his other hand.

"Now you just have a few days before you meet someone else full of energy." He sighed, "Only this person isn't anywhere near as adorable about it."

Daichi groaned, taking a long sip of his wine.

"I'm a bit nervous of meeting Iwaizumi-san from what you have told me." He said, hands tracing a pattern against Suga's side.

"Iwaizumi-san? Why?" Suga asked, frowning, before it dawned on him. "Oh, you mean Tooru? Don't call him that."

"Why not?"

"It's confusing."

Daichi raised an eyebrow.

"What should I call him, instead?"

"Tooru-san, Annoying, insufferable, shit face..."

"Some of those aren't so nice." Daichi laughed, finishing the last of his wine and placing the glass onto the floor.

"Well neither is he." Suga said before laughing at the expression on Daichi's face. "I'm joking. He's a good person and better friend. Just don't get on his bad side."

"Noted."

"His husband, Iwaizumi Hajime, still calls him Shittykawa although his name is no longer Oikawa though."

"Wait-Oikawa? Oikawa Tooru?" Daichi asked, Suga feeling a well of pride upon his clear recognition, "One of the best youth setters in the whole country until injury stopped him from going pro? I used to read about him in magazines."

"That's him." Suga said, keeping his head on Daichi's chest, "He now coaches middle school volleyball and teaches the sciences there too."

"I'd have thought he would coach high school, there's more glory there."

"You would think that." Suga mused, having felt the same way, "Although he was adamant about middle school. Said he could make a bigger difference there. I think his husband understands why better than I do."

Daichi hummed an approval, before dropping his voice quieter.

"How is his injury?"

Suga shrugged.

"On good days he will run around, showing off his jump serves to kids who have no chance of imitating that yet." Suga said, picturing the amount of times Shouyou had been awed by Tooru's volleyball skills, or the way Tobio stared at his dad full of admiration and ambition. "On his bad days he will attempt the same thing until his husband puts an end to it. He's observant and can see when he's faking it."

 

When both glasses of wine were finished, Daichi helped Suga to arrange Shouyou's presents underneath the small Christmas tree. There wasn't many- it would be impossible to buy the entire list his son had wrote, and he knew that children from more wealthy backgrounds in his class would get more or higher priced items. Yet Suga had done his best. He added a 'message from Santa' for good measure, hoping that it would be enough to excite Shouyou in the morning.

They soon got ready for bed afterwards, stripping into their boxers before climbing into the sheets. Usually in winter Suga would wear pyjamas, the heater and his blankets not enough to keep him warm, but Daichi was like a personal radiator. He snuggled into his chest immediately, the warmth of the skin against skin felt perfect.

"Is this comfortable?" Daichi asked as he wrapped an arm across his shoulder.

"Mm, feels great."

Suga twisted his body slightly, moving high enough to be able to press wet kisses along the curve of his neck.

"So, how do you want me tonight?" He said playfully, running his hands down the back of Daichi's thick thighs.

"Koushi, we can't." Daichi hissed with narrowed eyes, trying to swat away his hands. "Shouyou is sleeping in the next room."

"So? couples do it all the time." Suga sighed, trying to put on his best pout, "How else do siblings get made, hm?"

"In hotels, when the baby sitter is at home."

Suga ignored his comment, shuffling closer in the sheets so that he could wrap a leg over his boyfriend's.

"I'm so hard for you right now, Daichi."

Suga watched as his eyes flicked downwards before a spark of amusement crinkled between the lines of his face.

"No you're not."

"I could be, if you actually did something."

"You're too loud." Daichi said, a sense of finality in his voice, "I feel uncomfortable when I think how we could easily be overheard."

"I can keep quiet if I need to."

"Really, Koushi?"

"No." Suga said after a pause, "Unless you put something in my mouth to keep me quiet."

"God, help me." Daichi groaned, but didn't push Suga off when he climbed on top of him and carefully lined up their bodies as he straddled him.

Suga grinned, before moving his hips in a calculated way, a shiver leaving him with the barely-there friction.

"Am I getting you into the mood?" He asked through more wet kisses placed on Daichi's hot skin, his hands lowering to trace across his thighs.

"Mm, not sure." Daichi said, his legs widening slightly despite his words and the playful glint in his eyes, "You need to keep going to see."

Suga saw that as a challenge. Grinding his hips more forcefully, he leaned over to lick Daichi's lower lip before taking his tongue into his mouth and sucking it sloppily. Daichi was getting hard against him, Suga could feel it, and held back a groan with that thought. Hands came to rest on his ass, helping Suga with his movements against him.

" _Koushi_." Daichi moaned, his voice slightly breathless as he began to jut his hips to meet Suga's grinding, "I don't wanna come like this. Not in my boxers."

"Too tired to go all the way." Suga panted brokenly as he continued to move against him. "Hand job. Dirty and quick."

If Daichi had any protests to the suggestion he did not voice them, as he sat himself up and pushed Suga flush against him. Peeling down both of their boxer's in turn, Daichi freed their erections which seemed to spring up in the chill of the bedroom. Suga barely had a second to feel the cold before Daichi's large hand wrapped around both of them, pumping his hand at a quick pace.

"Oh, _oh_ Daichi." Suga bucked into his fist, his hands clinging onto Daichi's back for support, "That feels so good."

Daichi grunted his approval, his fist around them somehow speeding up.

Suga threw his head back and moaned long and loud. The slight twist of Daichi's wrist at each stroke was almost too much, the sensation from only jerking them both off together better than he had imagined.

"Thought you were going to keep quiet." Daichi cupped the back of Suga's head with his free hand, bringing him upright again.

"Can't." Suga panted, "Ah-kiss me."

Lips slammed onto his. They were bruising with the force in which Daichi was kissing him, revealing how much pleasure he was feeling too.

Each movement from Daichi was designed to get them off fast. There was no teasing and no hints of denial, just chasing a quick orgasm which was quickly approaching.

It hit like a tornado.

Suga spilled over Daichi's hand without a warning. His hips bucked weekly as he rode out his orgasm with a cry that was muffled by his boyfriend's lips. It was mere moments before Daichi followed, Suga's release spread down their lengths as he continued to jerk them slowly until they were completely spent. He was certain he heard his name, quiet and whispered, spilt from Daichi's lips as he let go of them, face flushed and red.

Suga was beginning to hate how emotional he felt after an orgasm with Daichi. Coming down from the rush of pleasure that surged through him makes thoughts surface to the front of his mind and threaten to spill out. He fought back the urge.

Reaching for the wet tissues kept on his bedside table, Suga cleaned them both just enough to be able to sleep comfortable. They settled back into each other's arms, Suga already beginning to drift in and out of consciousness.

"I like having you here." He said, keeping his words safe, "I want you here more often."

"I'll consider it." Daichi smiled against his hair, pressing gentle kisses to his scalp.

"I guess it's not the easiest of situations." Suga sighed, tilting his head slightly to get more of the sensation.

"It is strange. I'm still adjusting, honestly." Daichi said, his fingers tracing light patterns against Suga's hips, "It's weird getting to know a child alongside still getting to know you and figuring out how I should act. Especially as the two of us are still so new and working out _our_ relationship. It's not something I ever saw myself doing."

"Mm." Suga said, fears still resting in the back of my mind.

"But I don't regret it or don't want to continue trying, if that's what you are worried about."

"You can tell?"

Daichi chuckled, a surprisingly sweet sound, before pressing a kiss to the curls of his hair.

"I can understand you at least _that_ much."

A few minutes passed in silence. Daichi reached over to turn off the bedside lamp, leaving them in complete darkness except the occasional flash from outside the window.

"Daichi?" Suga's eyes were already shut. He was unsure how he was still able to speak.

"Yeah?"

"It's past midnight."He said through a yawn, "Merry Christmas."

Suga didn't know if Daichi replied or not, falling fast asleep to the rise and fall of his chest within seconds.

 

"Dad! Daichi-san!"

At exactly 5:o2 am Suga's bedroom door banged open, the sound combined with the shouting waking both of them up from their sleep with a jolt.

"Merry Christmas!"

Shouyou was already dressed despite the time, an oversized Christmas jumper hanging off his small frame. Daichi groaned and rubbed his eyes, looking positively far from alert while Suga merely sighed. He had expected this to happen. Maybe he should have warned Daichi first.

"Merry Christmas sweetie." He said, trying to sound as happy as one could at that time of the morning, "But please keep your voice down."

Nodding, Shouyou ran into the room and jumped onto the edge of their bed.

"Santa came!" Although excited, he made an appreciated effort to keep his voice down.

"That's great, Shouyou." Daichi mumbled, voice barely audible. At least his eyes were open, now.

"Get up _quickly_!"

"Er, give us a moment." Suga said hurriedly, remembering the state of undress which he and his boyfriend were both in, "Wait for us by the tree. We will be there in a few minutes."

Shouyou pouted but leapt from the bed, rushing back out of the door with a mutter to be super quick.

"We better put something on." Suga laughed, dragging himself from the covers and reaching for the dressing gown hanging from the door, "I would offer you something of mine but I'm sure you won't get those arms of yours into anything I own."

"That's probably an exaggeration." Daichi said, still unmoved from his place in Suga's bed. He looked ready to fall back asleep at any moment.

Suga grabbed his pillow and whacked Daichi around the head with it in a quick movement. _That_ got him out of bed.

 

Shouyou decided to open most of his presents in the evening, after Suga had returned from work when they had more time. After his excitement had died down, Suga made breakfast for three of them and got changed for work while Daichi and Shouyou ate together.

"Koushi, baby." Daichi said, voice wary as he entered the room. Suga was taken aback by the nickname usually saved for the bedroom, a strange shyness overcoming him as he turned towards his boyfriend. "Are you seriously going to wear that to work?"

Oh.

Suga grinned, giving a short twirl and letting the pompom of his bright red Santa hat bounce in front of him.

"Of course!" He said, spurred on further by the wince Daichi's face contorted into, "You don't like it? Such a scrooge."

"Is it appropriate for work?" Daichi tried, "Ukai might not approve."

"I wear it every year on Christmas Day, it's perfectly fine." Suga said, dancing over to Daichi and wrapping his arms around his neck.

Staring up into his eyes with a playful smile, he allowed his hands to rest upon his hips as he swayed slightly in his grip.

"Have you been a good boy, Daichi?" Suga asked, the tease clear in his voice, "I can reward good boys today."

Daichi coughed loudly, his gaze flitting to the floor.

"So, have you?"

"I'm ready!" Shouyou bounded into the room with his small rucksack packed with the things he would need for the day, "Let's go!"

They let go of each other immediately, jumping apart. Daichi coughed, loudly and awkwardly, as they both smiled at the boy who was looking increasingly confused.

"Okay." Suga said, quickly grabbing his bag for work and patting Shouyou on the head, "Let's go."

 

With Shouyou's school already into their winter break and Suga still having to work, he was thankful that Tooru was available to look after his son until his company shut down for the new year. Tooru's school had entered their holidays too, and despite still having to go in to coach volleyball practice, it was for only a couple of hours each day and he was allowed to bring the children. Tobio and Shouyou loved to watch the middle school students practice, and join in with some of their activities.

"I can get a bit closer if you like." Daichi said as he stopped the car nearby to the Iwaizumi's home. He kept the car engine running as he looked through the windscreen as though to gauge the distance. "It seems a waste."

"This is perfect Daichi, thank you." Suga said, unfastening his seat belt, "It's a safe distance. Besides, a short walk is healthy."

Shouyou didn't seem to mind the fresh air either as they walked the five minutes to the house, pressing the button on the intercom.

"Merry Christmas!" Tooru yelled as he swung open the door, dressed from top to toe in a Santa outfit that Suga was not _entirely_ sure was meant to be worn outside of a certain situation, "Come in Shou-chan, we are going to have a fantastic day today. I have planned it all perf..."

He trailed off, gaze looking behind Suga as though he was searching for something. Tooru frowned.

"Where's your man?"

"I made him park a road back." Suga said, enjoying how a scowl quickly formed on Tooru's face, "I didn't want to subject him to you yet."

"What's that supposed to mean, Kou-chan?" Tooru whined, stepping aside so Shouyou could run into the house to greet Tobio loudly. "You love me."

"You know exactly what it means, shittykawa." Iwaizumi said, pushing Tooru back inside the house dressed in his business suit and car keys in hand before turning to Suga. "Hurry before you're late."

"Santa came!" Suga heard Shouyou exclaim to Tobio, who looked completely unimpressed with the statement. He raised his eyebrow from underneath his dark fringe.

"Santa's not re-"

"Ah! Ah Tobio!" Tooru suddenly cut him off, running towards him and pressing a hand over his mouth.

Suga stifled a laugh, shouting a quick goodbye to his friends and son before leaving. It wouldn't look good to be late on Christmas day.

 

The days between Christmas and the start of the new year's holiday passed in a blur of deadlines and late nights in the office made possible with Tooru babysitting so that the work could be completed before the office shut down for the year. Suga was unable to see Daichi much during that time, not even during lunch which was now spent tapping at his computer with a rice ball or sandwich hanging from his mouth.

When new year's eve eventually arrived both excitement and nerves arose from the prospect of introducing Daichi to his closest friends. His boyfriend arrived at his home early, Suga wanting to celebrate his birthday with him first. Shouyou was playing in his bedroom, leaving the two of them alone in the living room with a few balloons that Suga had stringed up as decoration. It lacked in impact, but Daichi still grinned as soon as he saw them.

"Oh Koushi, you didn't have to get me anything." Daichi said as Suga handed him two packages

"Don't be silly. Think of it as payback for Christmas." Suga grinned, "Hurry up and open them."

Ripping open the first package, Daichi's eyes widened as he discovered the contents.

"A pot of anti-ageing cream?" His expression dropped, staring at the remaining package as though it could explode at any minute. "Koushi, please tell me that isn't..."

Suga grinned, twirling his grey hair in his hands.

"You gotta open it to find out."

He thought he almost saw Daichi's hand shake as he unwrapped the gift, the amount of ribbons he had placed on the box-shaped parcel unnecessary.

"Oh!" He exclaimed as he removed a small bottle of his favourite wine, a look of relief mixing into his smile, "Thank you so much baby."

Suga decided that Daichi's look of clear happiness was worth every yen.

The rest of the day was spent quietly with a small cake which Shouyou ate the biggest portion of. Yet as the evening approached and things began to become more frantic with preparing to go to the party, Daichi's mood also began to lower. His face became more pale and he was unusually spaced out. Suga had seen that look before.

It only became worse as Daichi drove the short distance to the Iwaizumi's home, this time parking closer. They left the car, Shouyou bouncy at his side with enough energy for the both of them.

"Do you always get nervous before things like this?" Suga asked, rubbing Daichi's arm soothingly as they reached the front door.

"Sort of?" Daichi said with a sigh, "Please don't think it's stupid."

"I don't." Suga promised, "I know how that feels. But everyone will be very welcoming of you so don't worry."

With a nod, he let out a deep breath as though to steady himself before smiling.

Shouyou pressed the intercom, clearly unable to wait any longer.

The door opened to reveal Tooru and Iwaizumi squeezed into the doorway, a drink in their hands as they smiled up at the trio.

"Welcome!" They said simultaneously, the bustle of music and talking behind them.

"And is this man by any chance..." Tooru asked playfully, clearly appraising him with his gaze that flitted around Daichi.

He swallowed, but Suga kept his hand on him reassuringly.

"This is my boyfriend, Sawamura Daichi." He said, keeping a hint of pride in his voice as Tooru nodded towards him with an approving look.

"Nice to meet you, and thank you for inviting me." Daichi said politely as he extended his hand.

Iwaizumi and Tooru shook it in turn, the former looking as though he was trying to gauge his strength from the grip.

"Well come on in." Tooru said warmly, stepping aside the hallway, "You especially, Shou-chan. We have so many treats for you to eat, and Tobio will be happy to see you."

Shouyou grinned, running inside before kicking off his shoes and calling after Tobio. Suga took his time entering, Daichi following behind. The space was already bustling, many of Tooru and Iwaizumi's friends already there socialising. Most Suga could only recognise by face from other parties but he knew a few of them. Hanamaki and Matsukawa, the Iwaizumi's friends from high school, were laughing in the corner of the room. Their adopted twins the same age as Shouyou, Akira and Yuutarou were already sat on the sofa, nibbling on treats from the buffet table. Tobio did not get on so well with them, but Shouyou sat next to them to chat immediately.

Tooru didn't leave their side, following them into the living room with his eyes glued to Daichi.

"God, Kou-chan was right about your thighs. They look godly." He sighed, Daichi turning beetroot red as he stuttered out a thank you, "But I think my Iwa-chan still wins when it comes to the arms. Can I touch them? Mm, yes."

"Stop fondling my boyfriend Tooru." Suga said, although he considered waiting longer as the face Daichi was making was worth a picture, "You are making him uncomfortable."

Reluctantly, Tooru let go, folding his arms across his chest.

"Good on you Sawamura for being able to put up with Sugawara, though." Iwaizumi said, joining their conversation, "He has always been a bit of a handful."

"C'mon Iwaizumi, I was never as bad as Tooru." Suga insisted, his best friend opening his mouth wide in mock scandal.

"You certainly had your moments." Iwaizumi said, patting Daichi on the back and gesturing towards the sofa, "Grab a glass of something and I'll tell you all about them."

"I thought _you_ were going to be the one I had to watch out for." Suga said pouting slightly as he watched Iwaizumi and Daichi head off towards the sofa laughing.

"So did I." Tooru said, rubbing his shoulder sympathetically, "Who would have thought it, my dear Iwa-chan being so devious."

"I hope he doesn't say something too bad."

"Maybe he will tell the story about that one time in the gay bar." Tooru said thoughtfully, "Y'know, the time with the red lipstick and you-"

"NO." Suga shouted, the rest of the room falling quiet before he dropped his voice, "If he tells Daichi that one I will kill him."

"Please don't kill my husband Kou-chan."

 

As the time began to become later the children became sleepy, falling asleep in various corners of the room. Despite Shouyou boasting how he was finally allowed to stay up to midnight this year he was fast asleep on the sofa, curled up into a ball near to Tobio's chest.

"So much for staying up to midnight." Iwaizumi sighed. He scooped Tobio into his arms as though he was weightless.

"I didn't think they would." Tooru said, his sing-song voice and the flush across his cheeks suggesting he had already drank more than he had let on, "They can barely stay up past 9."

"Ugh, Shouyou is getting too heavy for me now." Suga groaned, standing over Shouyou and trying to find the best angle to pick up his son.

"I'll take him." Daichi said, leaning over and lifting the boy up easily, "Where can he sleep?"

"Follow me."

"And that's why you need a hunky husband. Or boyfriend." Tooru said, as they watched their partners carry their sons into Tobio's room.

Suga raised his eyebrows, reclaiming his glass from the nearby table and bringing it to his lips.

"You're strong enough to carry Tobio too."

"True." Tooru said with a smile, his strength deceptive with the leanness of his body, "But I don't need to."

 

With the children all tucked into bed, the drink truly began to flow. Any reservations they previously had about drinking too much had vanished, Tooru particularly knocking back the alcohol and quickly influencing Suga to do the same. Five minutes left until midnight the effects of his drinking had started to hit Suga, swaying slightly as he latched onto Daichi's arm who was still very much put together.

They were all staring out of the window waiting for the fireworks to start. Suga moved so he was in front of Daichi, giggling when he felt his arms wrap around his middle bringing them closer together.

"We should make a wish." He said, leaning further back into Daichi's chest.

"Isn't that just for shooting stars? Not fireworks?" Daichi said.

"Shh!" Suga turned himself around, sloppily placing his hand over Daichi's lips who licked it playfully. He pulled the hand away laughing, wiping it on his trousers. "We are making a wish, Mr. Boring. Alright?"

"Alright." Daichi agreed, just as the countdown began.

The room began to count down loudly from ten, Suga joining in with a shiver running down his spine in anticipation. As they reached '0' a loud bang echoed from outside the house, and lights crashed through the dark sky. Everyone cheered, Daichi swivelling Suga around to place a wet kiss to his lips. Suga kissed back, his drunken state elevating the feeling as he moaned loudly into it before breaking apart, yelling at him to make a wish. Daichi laughed, turning his gaze back to the fireworks.

What should _he_ wish for? Suga was barely able to think straight, the thoughts in his mind jumping around and morphing into stupid ideas. He took a deep breath, watching as the sky continued to explode into fragments of colours. Suga used the bangs and the images to ground him.

Suddenly the wish seemed simple.

He wanted them to work out. Standing there next to Daichi made it clear what Suga wanted. Suga wanted their relationship to continue, Daichi staying by his and Shouyou's side. Suga wanted to discover more about him, learning every part of him and finding the best way for him to fit into his family. He needed it. Eyes closing briefly, Suga made his wish, before opening them again and staring around the room.

Tooru was practically humping his husband's thigh, his slight exhibitionist streak not faded with the years. Others were kissing, holding hands, or simply enjoying a drink while staring at the fireworks. Daichi continued to look straight at Suga, staring at him as though he was the most beautiful man in the room. He swallowed, wishing his glass was no longer empty.

"I'm gonna take this one to bed." Iwaizumi said, managing to keep his husband at an arms length despite his frantic attempts to get closer, "Then I'm gonna kick everyone else out. The guest bedroom is yours. But if you mess up the sheets you're washing them, Sugawara."

"Are we going to mess up the sheets, Daichi?" Suga asked as Iwaizumi managed to carry Tooru from the room, which was not an easy feat even for him. The man was _heavy_.

Daichi's answer was quick.

"No."

Suga laughed, placing a wet kiss on his lips before grabbing his hand.

"I didn't think so." He said, swaying slightly on his feet, "We should go to bed too."

As they walked towards the spare room, strong arms supporting him as he stumbled more than once on their way, Suga could not help but feel that perhaps Daichi wished for the same thing that he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! :)
> 
> So much for a quicker update...I can't believe how busy a month August was! Things should be settling down now though, as I get back into my normal routine, so I really do hope to update more regularly again. 
> 
> Once again thank you so much, and your feedback means so much to me!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which they hit a small stumbling point while building up their relationship.

It was past 11 in the evening when the doorbell rang.

Suga was sat on the sofa with a book in one hand and the other free to dip into the fast-emptying box of truffle chocolates he received from Daichi on Valentine's day. He frowned, looking at the door. Who could be visiting at that time of night?

Placing the book down slowly on the coffee table; Suga walked cautiously towards the intercom, unsure whether it was safe to answer. He picked up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Kou-chan?" The frail voice came from the other side, Suga's chest instantly filling with relief, "Can you let me in?"

He rushed to the door and opened it wide. Tooru was hunched over in the door frame with red eyes standing out against his pale skin and a sniffy nose, arms hanging limply at his side. Suga knew that could only mean a single thing before he spoke.

"We had a fight."

"Oh, Tooru..." Suga said softly as he ushered him inside, leading him to the sofa where he flopped down into the cushions immediately. His eyes drifted to the chocolate but he didn't take one, instead curling himself into a ball and wrapping a nearby blanket around himself.

Suga sat next to him, holding the chocolate box out in offering. Tooru shook his head.

It wasn't the first time this had happened, although it was uncommon. Despite the constant bickering between them Tooru and Iwaizumi rarely had a true fight, their opinions matching when it really mattered.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" Suga asked, resting his hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

"It was about Tobio." Tooru said, taking a tissue from his pocket and blowing his nose loudly. "I thought he should start cram school in April. Hajime did not."

" _Cram school_?"

Tobio's grades were overall worse than Shouyou's, Tooru blaming the start he had in life for the poor scores and was convinced with more effort they will easily improve. This had not been the case so far, Tobio wanting to spend more time improving his volleyball skills than his academic ability.

"Tobio already does so much." Suga said slowly, "And he is still only 7. Do you really think that cram school would be best for him right now?"

"No, not anymore." Tooru wailed, Suga quickly trying to shush him to get him to quieten down. He didn't want Shouyou waking too. "Hajime's argument against it was good so I started to agree with him but I didn't want to admit it. Then the fight got personal and we both were _horrible._ We both know each other's weakest points, and that's the worst in an argument."

Suga shuddered, not wanting to think about some of the material they could use against each other.

"Iwa-chan won't want to see me ever again. He will wanna divorce me, he is signing the papers right now!"

Trust Tooru to be over dramatic. Yet he was always reprimanding Suga for doing the same.

"No he isn't." Suga sighed. "He is looking after your son. I am sure in the morning he will drive straight here and ask for you."

"Then tell him I'm not here." Tooru whined.

"Tooru-"

"I can't bare to see him throw our wedding ring in my face. I love him too much for that!"

There was little point trying to reason with Tooru when he had gotten himself into this frame of mind, despite how ridiculous he sounded. Iwaizumi adored him. Loved him more than anything else in this world, testament to how they have still stayed together through everything they had been through. Something so tiny would never break them.

"Can I stay the night? I can't go home. I'll even take the sofa."

"Don't be stupid. Take the bed with me."

Tooru looked at him with such a grateful expression that Suga could not find it in him to mind at all that he was sharing his bed. It wouldn't be the last time.

Suga fixed Tooru a hot drink before they went to bed, the taller male being clingier than usual. He allowed it, wrapping Tooru in his arms before they fell asleep.

 

"Why is Uncle Tooru here?"

Shouyou gestured sleepily at Tooru who was sipping a sweet coffee at the dining table, one of Suga's larger shirts slightly short on his hips.

Tooru shook his head slightly at Suga, before trying to force his lips into a smile. It didn't quite work.

"He just wanted to hang out a bit with me this morning." Suga said quickly, patting Shouyou on the head and trying to smooth down his bed hair, "Y'know, gossip and things."

Shouyou shrugged, before reaching into the fridge and pouring himself a glass of orange juice. He sat besides Tooru, slightly warily, but not seeming alert enough yet to question it.

The doorbell rang.

Tooru dashed into Suga's bedroom and slammed the door behind him. Shouyou shared a confused look with him, pointing weakly towards the room. Suga sighed and opened the front door.

Just as predicted, there was Iwaizumi. It didn't look as though he had gotten much sleep the previous night, a purple tint beginning to emerge underneath his eyes. Arms folded across his chest, his lips were pursed firmly together as he looked at Suga. He wondered vaguely where Tobio was, until Suga remembered; Sunday mornings Tobio was at piano lessons.

"I've come to take my husband home." Iwaizumi said, poking his head inside and scanning the room. Suga bit his lip.

"He isn't here."

Iwaizumi's eyes flicked from him to the ground, before returning to stare at him with a long sigh.

"Nice try, Sugawara. But his shoes are. And his jacket. _And_ his car."

Suga closed his eyes, counting to three in his head before opening them again. Iwaizumi was still standing in front of him, lips now in a tight frown.

"Tooru is feeling...sensitive right now."

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes.

"Tell him I just want to apologise and take him home with me to make up. I said too much and it all just got out of hand. " He said, before sighing. "Although your walls are very thin so he probably heard that himself."

True to those words, Suga's door slowly opened and Tooru's head arose from it.

"Do you mean that?"

Tooru padded across the room until he was standing a few metres away from him.

"You know I do." Iwaizumi said, opening his arms slowly. "Come home so we can talk. C'mon."

Tooru let out a strange noise that sounded like a sob before _throwing_ himself at his husband, burying his head into his neck as Iwaizumi's hands moved to rest at his hips.

"Iwa-chan, don't leave me."

"Stop being fu- really stupid." Iwaizumi said, eyes flicking to Shouyou behind him who was watching curiously while eating his breakfast. "You know I love you, right?"

Head shooting up, Tooru's eyes widened, already starting to water.

"I love you too!" He said, before smashing their lips together in a bruising kiss.

"Ew." Shouyou said from the living room, swivelling in his chair so he could no longer see them.

"Yeah, ew." Suga agreed.

 

After the Iwaizumi's left, the rest of the morning continued as usual. Daichi visited that afternoon, carrying a small box of donuts with him. Suga always told him that he didn't need to always bring snacks, but he continued to do so, Shouyou celebrating the arrival of the treat.

From his bedroom where Suga was folding the laundry with music playing quietly, he could hear raised voices and what sounded like an argument coming from the living room. Dropping the shirt he was folding, Suga shot out of the room to see Shouyou looking grumpy at the table as Daichi stood over him with his workbook in his hands.

"Shouyou, listen." Daichi said firmly, placing a pencil in front of him, "You need to do your work first before games, you know that."

"Fine." Shouyou glared, picking up his pencil and hovering it over the page.

"Apologise to Daichi too." Suga said, marching over to the table and trying to put on his sternest expression, "Okay?"

Shouyou muttered out an apology, before saying it again with more sincerity as he noticed the expression on Suga's face.

Although Shouyou had then began to do his work properly, Suga could not bring himself to leave the room again to finish folding the laundry.

 

"If Shouyou misbehaves like that again, please just call me." Suga said after Shouyou had been put to bed that evening, keeping his voice hushed, "I will talk to him and sort it out."

Daichi frowned.

"Why can't I just tell him off myself?"

"I don't feel as though you should discipline Shouyou. That isn't your role." Suga said, sitting on the sofa with a small sigh. Daichi didn't seem satisfied, standing next to the sofa with his arms folded.

"Then what is my role, Koushi?"

Suga ignored the question. Similar arguments to this had been happening frequently. Over the past month Daichi had been becoming increasingly closer to both Suga and Shouyou and more involved in their lives. Yet Suga was still hesitant to open up any responsibility for Shouyou to Daichi, although he was not completely sure why. There was something stopping him from doing it, a part of him that can't share his son. Suga did not realise he was so possessive.

"Do you want me to be just there for you, treating Shouyou as just a necessary thing to be with you?" Daichi continued to speak as Suga did not respond, the tone of his voice becoming increasingly more hostile. "Do you want Shouyou to just see me as 'his dad's boyfriend' without feeling any care directed towards him?"

"I don't know what I want, Daichi!" Suga rose from the sofa, his own voice reaching a level of volume that he did not want to use."I wanted a house with a small garden and two children together with a loving husband but I am never going to get that now!"

Daichi let out an exasperated sound before closing his eyes. It seemed as though he was calming himself down, letting out deep breaths before opening them again. His face had relaxed, his voice quieter as he spoke.

"Do you think I would do something to hurt him?"

Suga shook his head wildly, hair bouncing from side to side.

"No, never that."

"But you don't trust me." It wasn't a question.

Suga rubbed his temples, letting out a small groan. He was getting a headache.

"What do _you_ want, Daichi?"

"If we are going to be together, I want a role in Shouyou's life too. I have only known him for a short time, but I felt protective of him instantly." Daichi answered immediately, not needing any moment to consider it. It was clear that he had done a lot of thinking about this already.

Suga shook his head again.

"Shouyou doesn't need another father, I'm raising him. I always make decisions based on what's best for him."

"I didn't say I was going to be his father." Daichi said firmly, an eyebrow raised.

Suga pressed his lips together, sitting himself back down on the sofa with a groan. He was feeling overwhelmed. Thoughts were rushing through his mind but he could not make sense of any of them. His head really was starting to hurt.

"We moved too fast. I'm not ready. I rushed things." Suga admitted quietly, trying to clear his mind so that he could think. "It's only been two months since you met Shouyou, three since we started our relationship. I barely got time to adjust to us, and the concept of a proper, honest relationship before Shouyou became involved too. I haven't thought enough about how this can all work."

Daichi nodded, sitting down on the sofa next to him. The lines on his face deepened as they sat in silence before he spoke again.

"Do you want me to step back a bit for now? Give you more space?"

"Shouyou would miss you. He really likes you. I would too." Suga said slowly, visualising how much Shouyou would complain if Daichi was not around, how much he would miss his arms around him.

"Then what do you need?"

"I don't know what I need."

There was another beat of silence, only the sound of their breathing and the tick of the living room clock filling the air.

"I should go for tonight, Koushi." Daichi said in a low but gentle voice, standing up and brushing the dust from his thighs, "Get an early night and rest yourself for work tomorrow." 

"Don't leave."

The words came out before Suga's mind could catch up, body reacting as he rose from the sofa and grabbed onto his forearm. Daichi didn't usually stay on a Sunday night anyway, not with work the next day, and he certainly wouldn't want to after the argument they had just had. Yet because of the argument, Suga wanted to feel him closer. Needed to have Daichi by his side, to know he was still there.

"Koushi." Daichi exhaled slowly, "I don't think I should stay."

" _Please._ "

From the next sigh that followed and the light kiss that was pressed to his cheek, Suga knew that he had won.

 

Daichi climbed into the opposite side of the bed to Suga. Even with both of them inside the bed was roomy, Daichi lying far enough from him so that they were not touching at all. With his back to Suga, and covers already over his shoulders, Daichi did not say a word.

Suga turned off the bedside lamp and pressed his head into the pillow. The darkness of the room made his thoughts louder. Did he not trust Daichi? Suga did not think that was it, although he was not sure why he couldn't let his control go. For years it had just been him and Shouyou, only able to rely on each other. But his friends _did_ help too, he would not have been able to cope if it wasn't for the Iwaizumi's and even his parents. So why was Daichi any different?

His head pressed further into the pillows as his body shook with a short, silent sob. Suga was ruining things again. Another sob racked his body, and another, before Suga began to desperately muffle his cries into the pillow.

A groan was heard from the other side of the bed. There was the sound of rustling sheets and a shift in the mattress before a heavy arm was suddenly placed on top of him.

"Don't cry." Daichi said, voice gravelly and laced with sleep, "C'mon."

"I'm not crying." Suga lied, voice shaky with crying and trying to bury his face further into the pillow, as though it would stop his tears.

"Suga?"

With the revert back to his surname Suga's tears only increased, Daichi seemingly recognising his mistake straight away. His hand rose to his hair, lacing his hands into the grey strands and stroking his scalp lightly.

"One fight isn't going to ruin us." His voice was low, keeping it in sync with the silence of the night, "You know that, right?"

Suga did not know that. He had ruined many things before. Maybe he just was not suited for a relationship.

"We are trying to build something stronger than that, so don't cry. We just need to talk it out, it will be okay."

Daichi continued to stroke Suga's hair, pressing light kisses to it and to his back until his crying had stopped and his body was left shivery from the aftermath. He brought Suga's body close to him so that his back was pressed against Daichi's chest, the warmth comforting as his breathing began to steady out again and he drifted into a light sleep.

Daichi left early the next morning, stating that he needed to return to his apartment to get things ready for work. Suga tried to hide his disappointment, letting him go with a small kiss. There was a lot for him to think about.

 

Work was busy, as it always was in the months leading up to the new school year in April. Many homes and businesses liked to reform during that time to have a fresh look for the new term, and Suga and his team were busy making that a reality. Interactions with Daichi had been reduced to a quick nod as they passed in the corridor, hands brushing purposely in that short moment. Although, neither of them had purposely sought each other out, either.

Suga decided to change that on Friday.

When the clock hit 5, Suga needed to go. As always he prepared to work at home, giving his team instructions and a motivational grin, before grabbing his bag and rushing to the finance department. Daichi was sipping from a steaming cup of coffee, a red pen sitting idly in one hand as he scanned a paper on his desk. He noticed Suga immediately, his lips turning up to a pleasant smile.

"Hey, going to pick up Shouyou?"

"Yeah, can't keep him waiting." Suga said, trying to keep his voice light despite not being able to find the confidence to step closer to the desk. "Are you going to come over this weekend?"

"Ah, I'm busy this weekend." Daichi said, his eye contact slipping for a mere moment, "But say hello to Shouyou for me?"

"Of course." Suga swallowed any other questions he had, stepping over to Daichi to peck his lips before forcing himself to smile. "See you soon."

 

"Is Daichi-san coming over tomorrow?"

"Um, I don't think so." Suga said, Shouyou immediately making a disappointed sound.

The apartment was quiet. It was the quietest weekend Suga could remember for a long time. There were no other children running around, no Tooru causing a fuss and no Daichi with his calming, supportive presence. Suga knew that he should be relieved with the peace and use the time to relax and have a breather. Yet he couldn't. He didn't want to stay inside.

"Shouyou, sweetie, wanna go out for milkshakes today?"

Shouyou's eyes widened as his face lit up.

"Yes please!"

The milkshakes were more for his own benefit than a treat for his son. Although Suga was not the biggest fan of sweets, the occasional milkshake was an exception. They ordered their shakes, Shouyou choosing a sweeter one with much more sugar than Suga would usually allow, and they took their seats at a corner table.

"It's been a little while since it has just been the two of us." He said, taking a sip of his shake. It was certainly sweet, but good.

Shouyou made a sound of agreement, more interested in tasting his milkshake than engaging in a conversation.

"Is it yummy?"

Removing his mouth from where it was sucking furiously at his straw, Shouyou beamed up at him.

"Very!" He said loudly, Suga wondering if the sugar had already started to get to him, "We should bring Daichi-san next time, too."

Suga swallowed a gulp of his shake, brushing some of the hair from his forehead with a small laugh.

"Um, yeah. Sure."

Shouyou narrowed his eyes, tilting his head as he stared at Suga as though he was trying to work something out.

"Does Daichi-san not like you anymore?"

"C'mon, who doesn't like me?" Suga said, trying to appear more confident than he was as he bopped Shouyou on the head.

His son's face suddenly fell, a look of alarm overcoming him.

"Was it because I was naughty last weekend?" He asked quietly, eyes casting downwards.

"No, sweetie. Definitely not that." Suga said firmly, making sure Shouyou was meeting his gaze. "Daichi adores you."

"Then did you have a fight?"

"Don't be silly." Suga said, although he could feel his cheeks heating up. He had hoped Shouyou would not notice. It seems as though his son had inherited his determined nature to try and get to the truth.

"Kageyama said he heard his dads fight last weekend." Shouyou said, resting his chin on his hands, "Said it scares him."

"It can be scary."

"Is that why Uncle Tooru was here last Sunday?"

"Maybe, who knows?"

"You know." Shouyou pouted, "You just aren't telling me because it's 'grown up stuff'."

Suga laughed, patting him on the head.

"I don't want you and Daichi-san to fight." Shouyou said suddenly, "I want him to spend more time with us and do fun things together. I want to see his spikes and receives again! He can even tell me off when I'm naughty because he is your boyfriend so it's okay."

"Hey...sweetie. It's okay." Suga soothed, reaching over to take Shouyou's hand and squeezing it. "Daichi has his own life to lead too. Other things he wants to do. He has other friends to see, and other things to do too. He can't spend part of _every_ weekend with us, or he would get nothing done. Daichi will visit again soon."

Shouyou seemed to consider this, chewing on his straw.

"Do you promise?"

Suga knew one of the worst things he could do to a child was make a promise and not keep it.

"I promise, sweetie."

 

"Suga." Asahi said, leaning away from his computer, "You need to take a lunch break. You have to eat something."

"I am eating." Suga mumbled through bites of the rice ball he held in one hand, the other furiously clicking the mouse to rearrange his designs.

"A single rice ball while working doesn't count." Asahi sighed, fiddling with his long hair. "You have barely taken a break. Why don't you go to eat with Daichi?"

"Because."

"Because what?" Asahi asked before he slapped his palm across his forehead. " _That's_ why I thought I had not seen much of your sappiness recently. You've had another fight."

Suga almost choked on his mouthful, a piece of rice becoming stuck in his throat. He took a long swig of his water before answering.

"No, of course we haven't."

"Uhuh." Asahi said, showing a clear lack of belief in his stare, "Then why are you not with him right now?"

"Because I am busy."

"Half an hour break won't kill you. Go to Daichi."

Suga shot Asahi his darkest glare, narrowing his eyes and flicking his hair in a small huff. Saving his work quickly, he gathered up the rest of his lunch which would have otherwise gone uneaten and headed to the finance working.

Daichi was not working. He was sat at his desk, one half of a pair of earphones stuck into his ear as he read a book while he ate. As Suga coughed rather loudly he removed the earphone, swivelling in his chair. His face spread into a small, warm smile.

"Can I eat here with you?" Suga asked in a low voice, unsure where the nerves were coming from.

"You don't need to ask that, baby."

The pet name was a first for within the workplace, setting Suga's heart racing. Perhaps Daichi was not as mad at him as he first thought.

There were no spare chairs so they did what they both usually did, moving to sit on the floor leaning against the legs of Daichi's desk.

"Asahi said you have been working too much and barely eating lunch." Daichi said, threading his hands through Suga's hair, "I told him to keep an eye on you for me."

"Why are you two ganging up against me?" Suga pouted, unable to keep up the expression for long with Daichi's deep laugh.

"Because we care." Daichi frowned. "Come closer, I don't think Ukai is around."

Suga didn't think that Ukai was the problem, finding himself latching onto Daichi's strong arm immediately. He didn't think that Daichi wanted him any closer.

They fell into a comfortable silence as they ate, Suga enjoying the feeling of being next to Daichi. He had missed it, even in just a week of going without it. Yet he couldn't say that.

"Shouyou missed you last weekend." He said instead, resting his head on top of Daichi's shoulder.

"I'm sorry." Daichi said softly, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "My roommate has been feeling lonely recently as his boyfriend is often away for games, not that he will admit he feels that way." Daichi said, rolling his eyes, "So I kept him company for a ridiculous movie marathon."

"Don't apologise." Suga said, and he meant that. Daichi should never apologise for spending his time how he wants to. It was important he had his own life and spent time with his own friends too. "The two of us had fun. We went out for milkshakes as a treat."

"Shouyou likes milkshakes a lot?"

"No, I'm the one who likes them."

Daichi raised his eyebrows.

"I thought you didn't really like anything sweet?"

"But I like milkshakes." Suga chuckled, snuggling up closer to him.

"There is still lots that I don't know about you- that we don't know about each other." Daichi said, face turning almost pensive.

"I want to go on a fun date tomorrow night." Suga said, sitting up resting his chin on his hands. He didn't ask whether Daichi was free or not, hoping that detail would be overlooked. "I want to do something different with you. Something where we can discover new things."

"Like what?"

"Bouldering." Suga said, the idea sounding better as he spoke it, "Let's go bouldering."

"Bouldering? _Really_?"

"Yeah, why not?" Suga said, his face brightening, "Or anything, really. I don't mind."

Daichi laughed, shaking his head.

"We still need to have a talk though, Suga." He said, his voice dropping, "It can't be put off forever or forgotten."

"I know. We will talk." Suga said, trying to swallow down the sudden lump in his throat, "I promise."

Suga leaned back towards Daichi with his most practised smile, widening his eyes the best he could before fluttering his eyelashes subtly.

"Whenever we have some sort of fight, why do you always think that your awful flirting will fix things again?"

"My flirting isn't awful!" Suga said, pouting overtly, "And it does usually work."

"Somehow." Daichi agreed, "I'm not sure why, though."

He could hear the sound of Daichi putting down his chopsticks as Suga closed his eyes. He didn't have to wait long for the feel of a large hand cupping his cheek and a pair of lips pressing onto his. Suga leaned into the kiss with a breathy sound, responding to Daichi's gentleness with his own.

"Sawamura! Sugawara! No PDA!"

They shot apart immediately with the shout that rang through the office. Ukai was glaring at them, looking ready to give a long lecture at a moment's notice. Suga felt his cheeks begin to burn, although it wasn't the first time they had been caught, wishing the office floor would swallow him up.

"I thought I fuckin' told you, not in the office." Ukai grunted, "Save it for the bedroom. Alright?"

"Sorry." Suga and Daichi said simultaneously. Ukai made a small sound of acknowledgement before stomping off along the corridor.

Suga let out the breath he was holding, trying not to laugh.

"I'm sorry to you too." He said, snaking himself back around Daichi's body now that Ukai was out of start.

"Don't be sorry." Daichi said, shaking his head, "I kissed you fi-"

"Not for that." Suga took a deep breath. "For what I said that night. Shouyou adores you. He already looks up to you. If he begins to see you as a second f-father than that's actually really good, right?"

"Koushi, baby. We don't have to have this talk now." Daichi said firmly, although his back had straightened and his eyes were alert, "Not if you are not ready. Not at work."

Suga shook his head. He was not sure if he was ready, but sat next to Daichi and being so close to him started to piece together some of the fragmented thoughts in his mind.

"I have always raised Shouyou by myself. Having someone else thinking about him, considering what's best for him can only be a good thing, right? It...will probably take me some time to adjust and for this to work properly, but will you be patient with me? Can we try this, even with just small conversations and small steps. I will let you in slowly. I still wish we could have taken it slower, but it's too late now."

"Koushi..." Daichi trailed off, unable to form another sentence as his mouth opened and closed repeatedly before being able to find the words again. "If you are prepared to try, I will give you all the time you need. I can be patient for you."

 

Suga wanted to make this work. And if it was Daichi, he was sure they would be able to figure it out.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so much for reading! :)
> 
> At least it took me less than a month to update this time...
> 
> I am not sure how I am awake right now but I want to say thank you for all the comments and kudos, it all really means so much and keeps me writing even on the days where it is more difficult! So if you liked it please let me know!
> 
> Thank you again!


	9. Chapter 9

"As much as I appreciate you inviting me out for brunch," Tooru started, placing his cup of iced coffee onto the table with a small huff, "If I hear one more needless worry I am going to leave."

"It's not needless." Suga said, pursing his lips together, "It's my son."

"With your very responsible boyfriend, so shut up and enjoy that piece of french toast before I eat it."

With a small sigh and the heavy eyes of his friend upon him, Suga lifted a piece of french toast to his mouth and took a small bite. Tooru nodded approvingly, before continuing to eat his own food. The background music in Tooru's favourite cafe was just distracting enough to take away some of his worries.

For the first time, Shouyou had gone out with Daichi alone. Without him to watch. It was Suga's idea in the first place, he wanted to prove to both Daichi and himself that he can start to trust him and that he was open to letting him further into his son's life. And it seemed like a good idea at first.

Shouyou was excited to go out with Daichi, especially as they were going to the park to play volleyball, and Daichi looked honoured to be given the chance. Yet as the time came, the negative part of Suga's mind began to become active again, and it took all of his willpower to restrain it in order to let the pair out of the door.

"But what if Shouyou falls, he does a lot, and Daichi is not sure how to deal with it?"

"You told me you made sure to put a shit load of plasters in his bag." Tooru was now clearly bored, head resting on his palms and eyes wondering out of the window, "I am sure a 28 year old man knows how to put on a plaster."

"But what if-"

"You do realise that Thighs is probably more mature than the both of us put together?" Tooru cut him off with a groan, "I'd trust Tobio with him for a few hours no problem."

"Well you trust too easily, then." Suga finished his food and placed his cutlery neatly across the plate. "And stop calling him that."

"Topic change." Tooru said firmly, leaning across the table with his eyes becoming more alive, "How should I surprise Hajime for our wedding anniversary?"

"You don't." Suga said, trying to get himself into the conversation without the worries creeping back in, "You know he hates surprises."

With their talk becoming more lively with Tooru's wild ideas and Suga beginning to relax, he did not realise over an hour had passed until a beep on his phone alerted him to the time. Shoulders visibly tensing, he stared at the display on the screen. Only an hour and a half until the agreed time Daichi had promised to bring Shouyou back by. But what if they tried to return early and Suga was not there?

"Alright, it's about time huh? I'll drive us back home." Tooru said, seemingly having noticed the atmosphere, as he took his car keys from his bag.

" _Us_?"

"You don't mind, right?" He said lightly, "Hajime is meeting up with some of his friends today and Tobio is in lessons until the afternoon...."

"So you're feeling lonely, is that it?" Suga teased with a small grin, "You know, you could use this time to catch up with some 'me' time."

"I have enough 'me' time." Tooru sniffed, opening his eyes as wide as he could in one of his most pathetic looking expressions, "I promise I will leave when Th-Dai-kun comes back with Shouyou."

"No you won't." Suga shook his head before grabbing his bag, noticing the way Tooru's lips curled up, "But c'mon then. I'll allow you to stay." 

"Red or white?" Tooru asked as he swanned into Suga's home as soon as he opened the door as though he owned the place, fetching a pair of wine glasses from his cupboard.

"At least wait until dinner." Suga rolled his eyes, but laughed when he saw his friend wasn't deterred in the slightest. "White."

Tooru hummed appreciatively as he opened one of Suga's half empty bottles and filled two glasses, handing one to Suga as they rested on his sofa with the TV on low. They were just starting to get into a rerun of _Arashi ni Shiyagare_ , Tooru still as addicted to idol shows as he was in his youth, when the doorbell rang.

Bustling could be heard outside the door, a higher pitched voice and a lower one telling him to _shh_. Suga grinned, leaping off the sofa and racing to the door despite Tooru's passing comment to not look too eager. He swung the door open and Daichi and Shouyou walked inside looking _unharmed_ , and happy, a slight tiredness across his boyfriend's features along with his warm smile.

He turned his attention to Shouyou first, unable to help his eyes drifting across him to check for any bruises. There wasn't any reason to have worried.

"Did you have a good time, sweetie?" Suga asked despite the grin on Shouyou's face being enough of an answer.

"Yes!" He cried, flailing his arms around and almost hitting Suga in the process, "We played volleyball and Daichi-san's receives were like gyuu, but he couldn't really show me the spikes because my setting isn't so good, well my serves aren't good either really, so next time-"

"Okay, okay." Suga silenced him quickly, giving him a nudge in the direction of the living room, "You can tell me all about it _slowly_ when you settle down a bit."

"Sit next to me, and I will listen." Tooru spoke up from the sofa. Suga had almost forgotten his presence, and from the reaction of everyone else they had not noticed him yet either, "I'm sure what you were missing from your little volleyball session was an amazing setter like me, right?"

Shouyou looked taken aback for a moment before joining him and nodding.

"Or like dad!"

"Sorry, Tooru is here." Suga said to Daichi who had removed his shoes in the midst of the mini chaos, pressing a quick kiss to Daichi's cheek before leading him inside, "You don't mind, right?"

"Why would he?" Tooru said as Daichi opened his mouth, "I am sure he is happy to see me and talk to me properly when I am not full of alcohol."

"I don't mind."Daichi said, finally able to get a word in, as he strode to the sofa "Nice to meet you again, Tooru-san."

"Don't be so formal." Tooru scrunched his noise, waving away the hand that he had outstretched, "You can relax around me. Come sit and we can talk too."

Daichi sat down next to Tooru who budged up to create a space for him. The idea of them talking made Suga feel slightly uneasy, his only hope being that Shouyou was also next to him. There was only so far Tooru would go in front of his son.

"We often go for brunch on a Saturday while the kids are in volleyball, for an adults only talk." Tooru said lightly with one of his trademark smiles, "You should come sometime. It would be like a double date! I don't know why Kou-chan has not invited you earlier. It's almost as though he is hiding you away..."

Tooru finished his words with an accusing glare shot in his direction. Suga smiled through it. He knew that his closest friend is still waiting for the opportunity to be able to grill Daichi fully and find out more about him, but he supposed it would be nice for him to spend more time around his friends.

"Sounds good." Daichi smiled, looking sincerely interested, "I would like to speak with Hajime-san again."

"Not me?"

"It's because you are annoying." Shouyou said honestly, "But I don't think it's on purpose?"

"Wow. Thanks. Last time I set to you Chibi-chan." Tooru said, his tone dry but he attacked Shouyou's stomach with tickles causing them both to burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry! Sorry Uncle Tooru!" He managed to gasp as the tickles finally stopped and Shouyou curled up closer to his side.

"Apology accepted." Tooru murmured, brushing away some of the thick orange hair on his forehead.

Suga noticed Daichi's eyes flick to the scene next to him, an unusual expression overcoming him. Brows furrowing enough to wrinkle and lips in a straight line, his focus did not change. Although not certain, Suga had an idea what it was about.

"Come and help me start dinner?" He asked quietly, nudging his boyfriend's attention towards the kitchen.

Daichi nodded, easing himself off the sofa and following Suga to behind the counter.

"They really get along, don't they?" He said under his breath, eyes returning to be fixed firmly on the scene. If he wasn't mistaken, Suga could almost detect a hint of jealously, his hands moving to grasp his boyfriend's instinctively.

"Tooru helped me with Shouyou from day one together." Suga said gently, keeping his voice low enough that Tooru would have to try extra hard to be able to pick up on his words, "Despite how frivolous he looks he never judged or questioned me when I suddenly presented a baby, just stepped up and stopped me from breaking down."

"He's a good friend, and dad then."

"It'll come." Suga said, surprised at how he was able to give reassurances despite usually being the one who needs it, "You're doing great."

Daichi still looked unsure, eyes now focused on Suga. He let out a small breath through his nose, before cupping Daichi's cheek with a light touch and pressing their lips together. A slight minty taste entered his mouth as Suga allowed the kiss to deepen slightly before pulling away.

"Ah, young love." Tooru's voice caused Suga's eyes to narrow and even Daichi let out a small sound of annoyance,"Isn't it a wonderful sight, Shouyou?"

"Dad's not young though?"

"Hey, I'm still young!" Suga whined, pouting exaggeratedly towards his son. "I am still fresh in my twenties, thank you very much."

Shouyou laughed, as though he didn't believe him, before leaving Tooru's side and running up to Suga with one of his beaming smiles.

"Can I help make dinner too? I'm hungry!"

"I guess that's my cue to leave." Tooru stretched his long limbs from the sofa, downing the rest of his wine before placing the glass on the coffee table with a small clunk. "You three enjoy being so domestic together."

"You can stay for Dinner y'know." Suga said quickly as he tried to hide the colour he could feel coming upon his cheeks, before turning to his boyfriend, "Right, Daichi?"

"Of course." Daichi was wearing one of his trustworthy smiles which was as practised as it was warm. Suga was unable to tell if he meant those words or not.

"You are even starting to talk like a married couple!" Tooru laughed through his hands, shooting a wink towards them. "Worse than me and Hajime. I need to go and pick up Tobio soon anyway, so have fun."

"See ya, Uncle Tooru!" Shouyou waved cheerfully as Tooru left through the door, not seeming at all upset that he was leaving. Neither did Daichi, in all honesty. Tooru was not always the easiest person to get along with, especially if you didn't take the time to see through his layers. But Suga loved him.

"So, let's get dinner started then." He said, clapping his hands in front of his body, "Shouyou, wash your hands first."

 

"Do you think Daichi would make a good dad?"

Asahi stopped his typing and looked over at Suga through the lose strands of long hair that had slipped from his hairband.

"Isn't it too early to be thinking about that?" He said, taking a long sip of his coffee.

"Yes and no." Suga left his desk and moved to sit on Asahi's, legs dangling in front of him despite the murderous look he was giving him as he most certainly crumpled the papers that were underneath him. "Of course it is too early, but with the that speed things are going..."

"I thought you wanted to take it slow?"

"I did." Suga sighed, leaning back against the thin wall behind him and knocking off a piece of paper that was pinned to it, "But I can't bring myself to slow things down. I like Daichi too much. Asahi, stop typing right now and listen to me."

Asahi groaned. He lifted his hands from the keyboard and stared straight at Suga, the level of attention he was giving him shooting from zero to intense in an instant. Suga swallowed.

"I'm not yet certain, really not certain, but I think he might be the one." He said quietly, "It's not been long but, I'm not getting any younger and if I am thinking about someone I wanna settle down with..." Suga trailed off, Asahi not responding and giving him time to gather his thoughts. "I really like him, Asahi."

His friend's face softened, dropping his eye contact momentarily.

"But sometimes I worry that maybe his feelings for me aren't as strong, or that he could easily find someone better. With a lot less baggage."

"Daichi has a picture that Shouyou drew for him pinned to his desk." Asahi laughed, "You would not think it had only been a few months. You both have him whipped. I really don't think you need to worry about those things."

"He does?" Suga's eyes widened slightly as he tried to wrack his memories, "I didn't notice."

"Just stop worrying for a moment and think about what all the evidence suggests, then." Asahi said, trying to nudge Suga off his desk half heatedly.

"True." Suga folded his arms and kept himself study in place. "You are the perpetual worrier, anyway. I should leave being stupid to you."

"Hey, Suga!"

Laughing, Suga finally leapt from the desk and returned to his own chair.

"I will miss adult interaction like this next week." He said, slightly dreamily, as he reclined in his chair and drank from his coffee, "A week of Tobio and Shouyou together. It might kill me."

 

Suga always took the last week of March off work as vacation time, so he was able to care for both Tobio and Shouyou before they started in a new school grade. He knew this was a large inconvenience to his company, taking a whole week off in one of their busiest periods. As a compromise Suga still had to reply to emails and be available on the phone, doing a fair amount of review work and edits on his laptop. It wasn't much of a holiday, really, but Suga could understand completely why it had to be done, even if he couldn't always give his full attention to the children.

It was far too early when the doorbell rang. Suga groaned, considering keeping his position wrapped in his comfiest sheets, before finally managing to drag himself from his bed to open the door.

Tooru looked a wreck. Tiredness was written across his face as he held onto the hand of Tobio who did not yet look awake in the slightest. It was one of the only times Suga had thought the usual ageless man did look as though he was nearly 30, even his perfect hair slightly out of place.

"Tobio might need to sleep a bit longer." He said in a rough voice without a chirpy greeting, "So do I, but that isn't going to happen any time soon."

Suga didn't comment on his friend's state as Tobio was wordlessly passed over to him, small hand closing around his fingers immediately as though he wasn't fully aware of what was going on. It must be hard to be a teacher at this time of the year, when there was only a short time to prepare before April. It must be even more tiring if you cared so much about the students like Tooru did.

"He has work to do in his bag and Hajime will pick him up this evening." Tooru tried to stretch a smile, "Thanks, Koushi."

Suga praised his own initiative in putting out the futon in advance on Shouyou's floor, leading the zombie like child to the bedding where he seemed to fall back to sleep the moment his head hit the pillow. Shouyou did not notice the intruders in his bedroom, snoring quietly with only his tufts of hair sticking out from under his duvet. He smiled, leaving the room and shutting the door gently behind him. The children weren't the only ones who needed more sleep.

 

"Who are you emailing?" Shouyou asked, peering over Suga's shoulder.

They all ended up waking up fairly late in the morning, Suga awaking with a loud crash from the kitchen. The children had decided that they would make their own breakfast without 'disturbing dad's sleep', and had knocked the kettle off the counter in the process. Tobio had wanted to pour himself a glass of milk but couldn't open the carton properly, the contents exploding onto the floor which they failed to mop up using a few tissues.

Suga had groaned when he rushed into the kitchen with the noise and saw the scene in front of him. Not the best way to start the morning. After waving the children off to have a shower and get dressed, Suga made breakfast and cleaned up, finally able to start his work now the situation had calmed down.

"Daichi." He said, without taking his eyes from his laptop screen, "I compiled a report with Asahi that I need him to look over."

"Can we email Daichi-san, too?"

"Um..."

Suga thought it over. Although he was using the 'monitored' work email, just _one_ couldn't hurt. It wasn't as though most of the emails actually were read by the higher ups, anyway. They had better things to do.

"You can write as message at the bottom of this one." Suga said, standing up so he could give his chair to Shouyou and stand over him, "Can you actually type?"

"'Course I can." Shouyou scoffed, looking towards Tobio as though to gain conformation, "We do it in school."

It turns out Shouyou's typing speed was approximately one word per minute. With his tongue stuck out in the corner of his mouth and showing more concentration than Suga had ever seen from him he painfully typed a message with Tobio watching half interested besides him.

"Finished!" Shouyou announced after what seemed like an hour later, a proud smile on his face.

"Hello Daichi-san. Do your best at work today. I helped make breakfast with Tobio. I want to play volleyball with you again soon. From Shuyu." Suga read aloud, quickly covering his mouth with his hands, "Sweetie, you spelt your name wrong."

"Dumbass." Tobio laughed, before getting into a hitting match with Shouyou who violently whacked him on the shoulder.

"Stop it, you two." Suga said firmly, putting a hand between them, "Apologise to each other now."

"Sorry." The boys said simultaneously and equally free of any remorse.

Suga rolled his eyes and hurried the boys away to the sofa, telling them to busy themselves doing something. He sent the email, deciding to keep the typo, and began to look at another email sent from one of his team members.

It was only around half an hour later when a reply arrived from Daichi. The first half of the email was pure business, as expected from him, but a smile crept onto Suga's face as he caught the few lines at the bottom. Daichi had made the effort despite his incredibly busy schedule to reply to Shouyou, even going as far as to write it all in hiragana so the child could read it.

Suga called Shouyou over from where he was competing in a seemingly competitive game of Uno with Tobio. He placed his cards face down on the floor, instructing Tobio not to look at them loudly, before bounding over to the computer.

"Daichi has replied, sweetie." Suga said, tilting the laptop towards him, "Can you read it out loud?"  
Shouyou usually hated reading, although he loved listening to stories. Always reluctant to read, especially in front of others, Suga was almost sure that he would refuse and ask him to read it to him instead. However, to his surprise, Shouyou began to read immediately.

"Hello Shouyou, thank you for the support." He read slowly, enunciating each hiragana almost separately, "I will do my best, so you need to work hard too. I know you can do it! From Daichi." Shouyou raised his head, eyes almost shining with the force of his smile. "Waah! My first email message!"

"Good for you." Suga smiled, ruffling his hair before turning to continue working on his laptop.

"I need to try my best." Shouyou said, suddenly seeming inspired. "Kageyama! Let's do some work!"

Suga blinked. He lifted his eyes and stared at his son. Shouyou _wanted_ to work?

"No way." Tobio said, lips pursed together as he began to clean up the cards, "Work by yourself."

"Well actually, Tobio." Suga said, gaining the child's attention, "Your dad says you have work in your bag."

Tobio didn't reply, although his eye twitched.

"C'mon, let's do it!" Shouyou yelled, grabbing Tobio by the wrist and yanking him up roughly from the ground. He looked murderous.

"Fine." Tobio said, folding his arms grumpily across his chest, "Only because you are too dumb to work by yourself."

"I'm not dumb!"

"If you're going to work, then just do it without arguing." Suga said, running his hands through his hair and resisting the urge to plant his head on the table.

To his relief, the boys did settle down and begin to work. Shouyou had his despised workbook open in front of him and a pencil hanging from his mouth. Tobio already looked ready to sleep despite just starting, eyes in a weird state of being half open. Suga snorted, and went over to see what he was doing.

"Tobio, do you need any help?" He asked softly from behind him, the child jerking alert at the words.

"I can do it." Tobio said firmly, his usual pride shining through.

Suga hummed, and flicked his eyes down to the worksheet where they then widened. Tobio's work was from _Kumon_. He was unaware that he had began the Kumon method of learning. Suga thought that the Iwaizumi family had decided against sending Tobio to any extra schooling.

 

The rest of the time began to fly until around 6pm, where the doorbell once again rang and Suga instructed Tobio to get his things together as he opened the door.

"Thanks for doing this." Iwaizumi said, his exhaustion evident in his voice. Both him and Tooru had it hard at the moment, "Did he behave?"

"More or less." Suga snorted as Iwaizumi's eyebrow cocked upwards, "Just the usual teasing. Shouyou is as much to blame."

"Well you have another 4 days of it to enjoy."

"Lucky me." Suga laughed, "By the way, Tobio did all his work. I didn't know he was going to Kumon?"

"It was a compromise." Iwaizumi grunted, clearly not completely happy about the situation, "It has been working out okay at the moment, though. I guess he could use a bit of extra help."

"Maybe I should enrol Shouyou, too." Suga said thoughtfully, "On different days, so they don't distract each other."

"Go ahead, Tobio does Tuesdays and Thursdays at the moment." Iwaizumi said, his face changing to a natural smile as his son appeared in the doorway with his bag slung across his shoulder. "Say thank you to Sugawara, Tobio."

"Thank you." Tobio said with a small bow, before pulling a face at Shouyou who was making the same strange face behind them.

 

The week was admittedly not the easiest on Suga. He had questioned his life choices on more than one occasion when he was overwhelmed by the volume of work that his team was sending him and the unfolding chaos between the two children in his home. By Friday evening Suga was exhausted. Despite loving Shouyou and Tobio with all he could give, he was thankful when Iwaizumi appeared at 6pm to take both of them away for the night.

Waving his son goodbye and telling him to be good, Suga collapsed onto the sofa with a loud sigh. Daichi was picking him up in his car at 7. He had time to relax. Only, not really. Suga closed his eyes for five minutes, counting his breaths as he calmed himself down, before rushing into the shower.

 

"My roommate is visiting his boyfriend this weekend." Daichi said as they were driving in his car. "I want you to come back to mine. I will cook you a nice dinner and we can spend some time together."

As usual, Daichi arrived at 7pm exactly, arms wide and inviting as he stood in the building's hallway. Suga had dived into them immediately, enjoying his familiar warmth that he had been without for the week. He had expected Daichi to take him out somewhere, but an at-home date sounded good. Better, even.

"It's not often you invite me back to your place. Suga said, voice teasing, "Do I smell an ulterior motive?"

Daichi's face burned immediately, gaze focused completely on the road ahead of him.

"You've been working so hard this week looking after two kids by yourself, and still fulfilling your work commitments, so I want you to relax."

"How sweet." Suga tried to tease although he couldn't help but feel happy at the treatment. He had always wanted to be spoilt sometimes by a partner, and part of him had given up at ever receiving that.

His boyfriend smiled, turning to Suga as the met a red light, and pressed a wet kiss to his cheek.

"I can't wait to get you home." Daichi whispered, his breath hot against his ear. Suga shivered, the promise sending heat to the best parts of him.

"I thought you were going to cook for me?"

"I will." Daichi promised, "But that doesn't mean we can't have some fun first."

"This is so unlike you." Suga laughed, "But I guess it has been a little while since we could really explore each other..."

His hand moved to rest on the lower half of Daichi's thighs before snaking upwards, enjoying the hitch in breath and flush of the cheeks it created.

"Not while I'm driving." He stuttered out, weakly moving his leg to try and shake off the hand. It was a feeble effort and Suga chuckled as he began to circles his fingers.

"You started it."

However, Suga did not want a car accident no matter how devious he was, so he managed to keep his hands to himself for the rest of the journey. His resolve broke the instant the car was parked.

Suga felt as though he was 18 again as he tumbled into the hallway with Daichi, hands locked together and giggling into each other's mouths through open kisses.

"Hang on baby, just need to open the door." Daichi said allowing Suga to hang from his arms as he dived into his bag for his key. Not making the task easy for him, Suga continued to pepper his skin with kisses from the curve of his cheek to his exposed neck.

Managing to unlock the door, Daichi pulled him inside, smashing their lips back together as he kicked the door shut behind them.

"Knew it!" A voice from the room rang out, causing Suga to let out a loud yip as he clung to Daichi and buried his head to his shoulder in shock, "I knew that if I was out you would bring your man here."

Daichi seemed less surprised, keeping Suga close to him as he heard a low growl leave his throat.

"What are you doing here?" He hissed, flicking on the light with his voice as close to angry as he had ever heard, "I thought you were supposed to be with Bokuto? And why the hell are you sitting in here with the lights off?"

With the apartment no longer in darkness, Suga could get a good look at the man the voice belonged to. The deep tone suited his style, messy black hair covering half of his narrowed eyes and mouth formed into a sly grin. He was taller than them both with a lanky physique that reminded him of Tooru, with one of his hands on his hips.

"Kou's plane got delayed so he won't arrive until tomorrow." The man said, Suga not missing a slight sadness that overcame his features for a split second, "Thought I would surprise you."

"Well you achieved that." Daichi grumbled, throwing his bag on the floor before gesturing towards him. "Koushi, this is my roommate, Kuroo."

"I'm hurt, Sawamura. Actually hurt." Kuroo said, putting his hand over his heart. Suga noticed how he would give Tooru a run for his money with the amateur dramatics and had to stifle a laugh. "Just a roommate? How could you? After all we have been through?"

Suga now openly laughed. Despite the unwelcome surprise he liked Kuroo already.

"Nice to meet you." He said, stretching out his hand with his best smile, "I guess you are actually closer friends than Daichi let on?"

"Together since our University days in Kyoto." Kuroo grinned, turning the handshake into a high five, "Best friends for life, right?"

"Unfortunately it seems to be going that way."

"Ouch, brutal."

 

Daichi sat the three of them down on the sofa, Kuroo grinning up at them like the Cheshire Cat. Even though Suga had now overcome and forgave the initial shock, Daichi still looked angry, as his eyes remained in a pair of thin lines as he stared at his roommate.

"C'mon, Sawamura. I said I was sorry!" Kuroo said, although he did not sound particularly apologetic, "I just wanted to see who had you researching child raising techniques and child development on your laptop when you thought no one was around."

"Kuroo!" Daichi hissed, face twisting from anger to embarrassment in an instant.

"Really? You do that?" Suga said, voice low. He tried to keep the awe from his tone but it must have shown through his facial expression as Daichi's cheeks flushed an attractive peach.

"I just don't want to be so clueless about everything." He admitted.

"And I expected _you_ to be more dad-like." Kuroo said, looking Suga up and down through his dark fringe, "Y'know, more boring and stuffy."

Suga supposed his initial image was not so dad-like. Dressed in a pastel pink shirt with ripped jeans, he hoped he looked his age and did not give off any vibes of being middle-aged. He didn't think he did, different to someone close to him.

"Like Daichi?" Suga laughed, squeezing his boyfriend's arm to show he meant no harm. "Sorry, that's not me."

"You already know him so well!" Kuroo laughed, the sound particularly strange.

"But you said you were at University together, right?" Suga asked, an idea coming to him, "Daichi must have done some stupid ass things then?"

" _Koushi.._."

"Well, sorry to be a downer but he was usually the one putting an end to the stupid ass things we did."

"Even at university?" Suga asked, mouth wide open as he whacked Daichi playfully, "Wow, you really always were an old man."

"There were a few times, though." Kuroo said, Suga aware of Daichi's face dropping out of the corner of his eye, "Wanna hear them?"

"Don't even think about it, Kuroo." Daichi said firmly, "I won't do any cooking for a month. No, two."

"Gosh. You're just moody because I cock blocked you." Kuroo said, before his eyes narrowed, "But don't stop the hot sex on my accord, please. I won't listen too closely."

Suga snorted as Daichi reached over him to whack Kuroo across the arm. He didn't flinch, smirk widening.

"Anyway, what's for dinner Sawamura?"

If Daichi looked moody before then Suga had no words for his current expression.

"I planned to cook dinner for _me and Koushi_." He said, the message behind his words clear, "I only have enough ingredients for two portions."

"That's alright." Kuroo shrugged, "We can just get something from the convenience store, or a take out. Saves you the whole trouble."

"That's not the plan, Kuroo."

From what Suga could recall from snippets that Daichi had said before, Kuroo often got lonely with his boyfriend not being around often despite hating to show it. Especially as he was supposed to be with his boyfriend that evening, it must be particularly hard on him. Getting to know Kuroo a bit better and spending time as a trio sounded fun, too.

"It's okay, Daichi." Suga said, rubbing circles into his shoulder blades, "Let's have dinner together."

"But-"

"You can cook for me any time." Suga assured him, pressing a kiss to his cheek, "I still appreciate the thought."

"Fine. But you're going out and buying it, so you give me at least some time alone with my boyfriend." Daichi said, lips almost forming to a pout before adding under his breath, "You're an awful roommate."

"Love you too, Sawamura." Kuroo said, stretching off the sofa and grabbing a vivid red wallet from the nearby counter, "What do you like to eat, Sugawara?"

"I'm good with anything, and please just call me Suga."

"He will take something spicy." Daichi said quickly, Suga rolling his eyes.

"Honestly, anything is fine."

Kuroo saluted, giving Suga a quick wink, before pushing his feet into his shoes and leaving the apartment. The door closed behind him with a small click.

For a few beats nothing could be heard but the sound of breathing, neither of them willing to speak until they were sure that Kuroo had gone. When the safety period was over, Daichi let out a huge groan, face twisted into a grimace.

"I am so, so sorry." He said, lightly pushing down Suga's head so that it was resting against his chest. "I had no idea that the night would turn out like this."

"Don't apologise." Suga said firmly, pressing a kiss to the exposed skin at his collar, "I am glad actually."

Daichi frowned.

"Why?"

"I sort of feel selfish." Suga said, "I never even thought about meeting your friends, to be honest, despite trying to integrate you into my life and with my friends. I was so one sided about it. I am happy that I was able to meet Kuroo, even if you played down your relationship with him somewhat."

"I didn't really want you to meet. He's a pain." Daichi shrugged, beginning to curl Suga's hair around his fingers absentmindedly.

"No worse than Tooru. I kinda like him." Suga said.

"You would." Daichi rolled his eyes. "Which is why I didn't want you to meet. I knew you would gang up on me."

Suga laughed, leaning into Daichi's touch.

Daichi was more playful and relaxed around Kuroo and Suga was glad he could see that side of him too. A side where he seemed to let go of some of his maturity and be himself. Suga hoped he could soon be as equally relaxed around him too.

Their lives were becoming more intertwined in ways he did not believe would happen with every passing day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! :D
> 
> I hate how long it takes me to write each chapter, there is always lots I want to write and I end up starting many things and finish none of them in my limited time. Ugh. I will keep trying to update regularly, though!
> 
> Once again, thank you for reading, and if you liked it please let me know!


	10. Chapter 10

Suga looked Shouyou up and down, trying to smooth the curls of his hair with a small huff. It could never stay down. The boy tried to wriggle away with a small groan, knowing just as much as him how fruitless the effort was.

"I guess you look as good as you will ever do."

" _Dad!_ "

"Sugawara, he's going to the park not a wedding." Iwaizumi said, clicking his tongue from where he was leaning in the doorway, "His hair is just gonna get more messed up while playing volleyball anyway."

"Yeah, Uncle Hajime is right!" Shouyou said, folding his arms with a glare. "Can we just go already?"

Tobio was swaying from foot to foot, clearly impatient, as he hugged a volleyball to his chest in the entrance way. Children's mobile phones with mini alarms dangled from both of their necks, although Suga was sure they would get stuffed into their backpacks as soon as they began to play. He sighed.

"Fine. You can go now. Put your shoes on, Shouyou."

With a loud cheer, Shouyou grabbed his trainers from the shoe closet and began to wedge his feet into them.

"Boys, don't forget you need to make sure you come back here when the clock says 4. Alright?" Iwaizumi said firmly, using his strictest face that could even have Suga swallowing on occasion.

"Okay." They chorused, Shouyou's hand already on the door handle. Tobio turned to him."Oi, how do you know when it's 4, again?" He not quite whispered. Iwaizumi winced.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that." Suga muttered.

He watched as Shouyou finally opened the door and the boys noisily filed outside, slamming it behind them. Suga groaned, running a hand through his hair.

"Aren't you worried?"

"Nope." Iwaizumi shrugged, kicking his shoes off, "They are second years now, and even first years go to the park alone. It will be fine. They have phones, too, anyway."

"I doubt Shouyou even knows how to use his."

Iwaizumi let out a small laugh, crossing the entrance way into the living room and making himself at home on the sofa. Suga raised his eyebrows and followed him inside.

"Are you staying? Not that I mind."

"My idiot husband is hosting one of his 'astronomy club' meetings today. I want to be nowhere near it."

Suga shivered. 'Astronomy club' was the official name for it. The majority of the members including Tooru believed that aliens were among them and that they could find them through increasingly stupid methods. Tooru tried to get Suga involved a few times but even he had his limits.

"Is Sawamura coming today? I hoped to speak with someone sane for a while."

"I'm sane." Suga said plainly, scowling at the scoff that followed, "But no. Not today. Stuck with me I'm afraid."

"Oh well, a beer will get me through it."

Suga rolled his eyes and took out a can of beer that was chilling in the fridge, throwing it to Iwaizumi who caught it perfectly. Although he did not usually stock beer it was Daichi's alcohol of choice so Suga had recently began to automatically put a few cans in his basket when out shopping. Sacrificing one of them to Iwaizumi would be okay.

It wasn't often that the pair spent time together without Oikawa but it was refreshing. Iwaizumi was not a big talker so they passed the time with minimal conversation and the television playing in the background. As the clock began to creep closer to 4, Suga noticed both of their eyes flicking towards the door, the anticipation of if their sons will come home on time weighing on their minds.

At 5 minutes to 4, the doorbell rang and voices could be heard from behind the door. Suga leapt from his sofa, unlocking the catch, and swinging it open.

There were _three_ children standing in his doorway.

Shouyou's face was red, it seemed as though he had been running, and rather than avert his gaze from his dad's he faced him head on.

"Why...why is Tadashi here?" Suga asked slowly, opening the door wider to allow them all to come inside.

Tadashi looked hesitant to enter, eyes fixated on the ground. Suga gave him a small nudge and a smile, trying to show him he wasn't angry about his presence. He knew that his son wouldn't have brought him here without a good reason.

"Some other kids were being mean to him!" Shouyou shouted on cue, features warped in anger, "We rescued him!"

"Oh god, you didn't get into a fight, did you?" Suga said, quickly checking them both for bruises while Iwaizumi began to question Tobio whose face was fixed into a deeper scowl than usual.

"No." Shouyou shuffled, "Well, Kageya-"

"Oi, Hinata!"

"Tobio, did _what_?" Iwaizumi said, voice dark as he crouched down to Shouyou's level. Tadashi sniffed next to him.

Clearly Iwaizumi's gaze was scarier to Shouyou than Tobio's, as he ignored his friend's warning and began to babble; words leaving his mouth at an intense speed.

"Well Kageyama punched one of them so we could run off, but they really were being horrible! They deserved it. Yamaguchi said that usually Tsukishima helps him out but he wasn't at the park today so we had to do it."

Tsukishima usually helps him out? That must mean that Tadashi faced that sort of bullying often. No child, especially one as kind and sensitive as him, should go through that.

"Is that true?" Suga asked him, trying to keep his voice soft.

Tadashi burst into tears, wails coming loud as his whole body shook with the force of them. Shouyou froze next to him, looking over at his dad unsure what to do as Iwaizumi already escorted Tobio to the sofa to give him a talking to.

"It's okay, Tadashi. You are safe here." Suga tried to comfort him, squeezing his shivering shoulder lightly, "I'm going to call your mom to pick you up. Okay?"

He shook his head wildly, voice coming out in a high pitched squeal.

"She's gonna be so mad at me!"

"No, she's probably just worried."

Tadashi stopped his protesting, giving a small nod as Shouyou pulled him down to sit on the sofa where Iwaizumi was stuck between congratulating and chastising his son. Tobio's expression had not changed, clearly believing there was nothing to make a fuss about.

 

Mrs. Yamaguchi was overcome with relief on the phone, gushing her gratitude to Suga before stating she would be there straight away. They calmed Tadashi through a combination of chocolate biscuits and Shoyou's cuddles until she arrived, slippers still on her feet from where she had rushed to the apartment. She scooped Tadashi up in her arms immediately, asking to hear the full story. Before Suga could explain what he knew Shouyou began talking, Mrs. Yamaguchi's grip on her son tightening as the details became clear.

"Tadashi, dear, how long has this been going on for?" She asked, a shake in her voice.

"Since before the winter holiday." Tadashi said, hiding his face in her coat.

Visibly swallowing, she rubbed her hand soothingly along his back.

"Shouyou-kun, Tobio-kun; Thank you for helping Tadashi." She said, patting each boy on the head, as she turned to Suga and Iwaizumi. "Please let me treat the boys to a nice handmade dinner on Friday evening, I would be happy to have them both for a few hours to say thank you."

"You don't have to go to any trouble, honestly." Suga insisted, although Shouyou was already jumping around excitedly, while gushing to Tadashi who had now raised his head from his hiding place, how much fun it will be.

"It's never any trouble to have them." Mrs. Yamaguchi said, giving a small smile.

"That must be a lie." Iwaizumi muttered, glancing over at Tobio who seemed to have a sulk on.

 

Tadashi left in a better condition than when he arrived, waving goodbye to his friends brightly. Suga was sure they would be having a long conversation when they got home. He made a note to himself to keep an eye out for Tadashi too when he saw him, and to see if he could identify who the bullies were. For now though, there were two other children that needed a talking to.

They gathered Shouyou and Tobio on the sofa, one of them still beaming and the other sporting a glare strong enough to break even the best moods. Iwaizumi matched his son's expression, looking at him straight in the eye. Suga cleared his throat.

"I am happy that you helped Tadashi." He started, using his strictest tone, "You should always help your friends. But you shouldn't get into any fights. Is that clear?"

" _I_ didn't get into any fights." Shouyou said smugly, folding his hands across his chest. "Tobio did."

"Oi, idiot." Tobio hissed, nudging his shoulder, "It wasn't a fight because they didn't hit me back."

"That doesn't make it any better, Tobio." Iwaizumi said firmly. "Hitting people is never the answer."

Tobio's glare dropped and was replaced with a confused expression, nose wrinkling in the way it did when he was thinking hard.

"I was only doing what you would do, though." He said, head tilting to the side, "When dad is being annoying you always hit him."

The room fell silent. Suga looked at Iwaizumi, eyebrows raised. His face was the colour of a tomato, deep lines running across his forehead.

"That's different!" Iwaizumi stuttered, Suga unsure when he had ever seen him so flustered, "That's because Shi- er, it's a hit of love!"

Suga burst out laughing, clutching his stomach as the force of it shook him.

"Oh my god, I'm gonna die! A hit of love?"

"Tobio, get your shoes on. We are leaving!"

Iwaizumi yanked his son off the sofa and nudged him the direction of the entrance, Shouyou following slightly confused behind him to see his friend out.

"He makes me sound like I beat my husband, shit." Iwaizumi rubbed his temple, sounding genuinely concerned as Suga finally managed to stop his laughing. "I don't. Do I?"

"No, no. We all know you would never hurt Tooru. He deserves the odd light thump to the arm when he is being stupid." Suga said with a wink. "Besides, it's how you show your affection. It's a hit of love, right?"

It seemed as though Suga was close to receiving a loving hit himself, but he escaped it as Iwaizumi grit his teeth and left the apartment with Tobio in tow.

 

Work had unexpectedly hit a busy period for Suga. With several members of his team off sick due to something nasty going around the office, the workload had fallen onto the remaining staff which unfortunately was not many. Unable to take even a 15 minute break for his lunch, Suga worked from just before the start of his shift until the final minute yet it still wasn't enough. So he was not surprised when Ukai finally approached him, his face showing the lines of stress that Suga was feeling.

"Sugawara, I hate to do this to you with your situation, but can you stay later tonight?" His boss looked apologetic, hands brushing through his messy, long hair. "Of course, you will be paid overtime."

There was no way that Ukai would ask him unless they had reached their final limit. Suga sighed, giving a tired nod.

"Can I make a few calls to arrange childcare, first?"

"Do whatever you need to."

To his relief, Shouyou's after school care facility agreed to keep him until 8 although it would cost him extra on top of his usual fees. He hoped that the overtime money he would receive would cover it.

"We need to finish this up as fast as we can." Suga said to his team through gritted teeth, "But don't rush it. If things aren't accurate then it will just create more work."

That was the last thing that he wanted. Accuracy somehow had to be balanced with speed if he didn't want to stay even later that night. What would happen to Shouyou then, he hated to think. Asahi seemed to understand the situation, giving Suga a friendly slap on the back before buckling down to his own role.

As 7 began to approach, a fear began to creep up Suga's neck. The team wasn't finished. It took nearly an hour to get to the childcare facility where Shouyou was, and if he didn't leave soon he would be late. To confirm the final project a manager was needed to give approval, and if he left who would that role fall to?

"Suga?"

Looking up from his internal panic, he saw Daichi walking towards him. Exhaustion was worked into his features too, tie loose around his neck.

"My team has finished up our work." He said softly, "You need to collect Shouyou, right? Go. I'll take over here."

"What do you know about the design side?" Suga said, not meaning to snap at his boyfriend but he was unable to control the tone of his words. Daichi did not seem phased by it, giving a tired smile.

"Nothing." He admitted, "But it just needs a manager's stamp of approval, right? It doesn't matter what manager. You can check the finished project in an email, and if you agree I will stamp it. Ukai has already agreed that's okay."

"Daichi..." Words escaped him, hands shaking where they hovered against the keyboard, "Are you okay with staying so late?"

Daichi beamed, the tiredness melting away.

"Of course. Anything for my boys."

Suga felt the heat rise to his cheeks, and he thought he heard a cough from Asahi in the background. He pecked Daichi on the cheek, unable to show enough of his gratitude, before grabbing his bag and dashing out of the door.

 

Suga rushed to the facility, racing down the stairs of the train station towards the building. Breaths coming heavily and a pain stretching from his throat to his chest as he ran, Suga reached the facility a few minutes past 8. The stern face of the teacher in charge greeted him upon his arrival, her gaze flashing to the clock before back to him.

"Shouyou-kun is playing over here." She said, leading him to one of the classrooms, where he was engaged in a game of 'Uno' with a different teacher, "Shouyou, your dad is here." She smiled towards the boy.

Shouyou's head shot up from his cards and he beamed at Suga.

"Dad!"

Cards flew onto the ground as he rushed towards him with a tackling force, Suga wrapping his arms around him immediately.

"Sorry I'm so late, sweetie." He murmured into his mass of hair, "Let's go home."

"Can we have a few words with you first while Shouyou gets ready, Sugawara-san?" The teacher spoke, perfect smile still directed towards Shouyou despite the cold eyes towards himself.

Holding back a sigh, Suga nodded, flashing an apologetic look to Shouyou who did not actually seem to mind, before following the woman into the reception area. Although he was only 5 minutes late that was still treated very seriously, and Suga could only imagine more money being taken from his account as a penalty.

As soon as the door was closed, the smile fell from her face.

"Shouyou-kun said that you would probably be with your boyfriend before you came here." She said, the statement catching Suga off guard, "Is this what you were doing instead of collecting your son on time?"

"Yeah because we work together and I was at work doing overtime- I really should not have to explain my personal life. It is none of your business."

Suga was known for being polite and kind, traits that he took pride in. However it was also true that he could have a temper, which he was usually able to reign in. Yet she was already beginning to try his short patience.

"I'm afraid it is, Sugawara-san." The teacher continued, face stern. "It's not good for the image of the school."

"What do you mean?" Suga asked, trying to keep his voice from raising to a volume that Shouyou would be able to hear.

She sighed deeply, hands resting on her hips.

"If one of our fathers is known to be, er, playing around, especially with another man then-"

"Woah, stop. What?"

Suga hated what the teacher was insinuating. He already got cold stares from other parents simply for being a single young father, and now rumours like this was being spread? It would be impossible for him to stop Shouyou telling others about Daichi, and why should he? Being gay was not something he was ashamed of or felt as though he should hide. He did not want Shouyou to have the impression that a boyfriend should be a secret, either.

"I am not playing around." Suga said firmly, taking a step forward towards the teacher. "I am dating _one_ man who I care for very much, and I am not neglecting my son by having a relationship. Many of the other mothers here have boyfriends or have remarried but you don't target them."

There was a stalemate for a moment. Both adults staring into each other's eyes with an unwavering gaze, trying to see who was going to break first.

"We will keep an eye on the well being of Shouyou-kun." The teacher said eventually, walking to her desk and sitting behind it with a dismissive flick of her wrist, "Don't be late again."

Suga did not feel like giving a reply. Without another look back he returned to the classroom where Shouyou was now dressed in his coat and ready to go. They couldn't leave the building any quicker.

As they walked home, Suga weighed the solutions in his mind. He could change where Shouyou went after school, but that place was the cheapest and nearest to his school. Any other facility would be awkward to arrange travel for and often the waiting list for a placement could be long. At least the school was good to Shouyou, even if they were hard on him. He needed to try and ride it out.

It had already been a tough week and it was only Wednesday. Suga really could not wait for the weekend to be able to relax.

 

The moment Suga woke on Sunday morning, he knew that something was not right. The sheets were damp, as was his body, and there was a pounding in his head. He groaned, shutting his eyes to the sunlight pouring through the curtains.

Just what he he needed.

Suga felt like crap, and that was putting it mildly. From the way that he felt it would be tough to even get himself out of bed, never mind spend the day entertaining and looking after Shouyou. It would be okay to let his son amuse himself for a day as he was independent enough, but he at least needed someone to cook for him. The child was a disaster with even a toaster.

His usual first call would be Tooru. Unless they were not home, there would never be a time when the Iwaizumi's would not take Shouyou if it was needed. Yet, he knew there was someone else he needed to try this time, someone he agreed to let further into his life. Especially in situations such as this.

Suga picked up his phone, and called the number he had set to speed dial.

"Daichi?" He said weakly as the call connected, trying to mask his voice through the phone. "Are you busy today?"

"No...are you okay?" Daichi was clearly concerned, voice urgent.

"Yes-" He swallowed down a cough, "Actually, no. I think I have a fever? I hope it's just that."

"Oh Koushi, do you need me to bring you anything?"

Suga could not miss the affection in the words, the assumption that he was coming over to him not needing to be confirmed.

"I have medicine so that's okay. I actually wanted to know if you would be able to look after Shouyou today."

"Of course I can." Daichi said firmly, "I'll be over as soon as I can. Just rest up and don't strain yourself until I get there."

"Don't worry, I won't even move from the bed."

Suga tried to laugh, as he ended the call but it came out as a cough that tickled his throat. He winced, checking the time on his phone. Shouyou should already be awake, probably reading manga in his room as he waited for breakfast.

Clearing his throat before taking a deep breath, Suga called out to Shouyou with the last of his energy, the boy shouting back a reply immediately.

Suga began to count in his head, 1...2...3...

The door burst open and Shouyou shot in with his usual wide grin. It dropped immediately as he looked at his dad, hands beginning to twist nervously in front of him.

"Dad...are you okay?"

"I'll be okay, sweetie. Can you fetch me some water and the thermometer, please?" Suga said gently, giving his son a small smile. The medicine was in a place that Shouyou could not reach. He would have to wait for Daichi to arrive for that.

His son nodded before slipping out of the room a lot more quietly than when he entered, and returned in a few minutes.

"I brought you the water." Shouyou said quietly, placing the glass on the bedside table. With his eyes void from their usual liveliness and mouth pressed into a tight line, Suga thought for a moment that he could be sick, too. Yet, he knew his son too well for that.

Suga did not want the boy to worry.

"Shouyou, Daichi is going to be coming soon to take care of you for the day." He explained gently, "Make sure you are good and don't cause any trouble."

"I won't." Shouyou said, and Suga believed him.

"When the bell rings, make sure to check the intercom first to be certain it's Daichi before opening the door."

He nodded seriously, and Suga felt some of the tension leaving his body. Shouyou could be careful when it was necessary. A sudden exhaustion overcame him, and Suga could feel his eyes fighting to close. Feeling there was no point trying to win the battle, he let them shut and fell instantly back asleep.

 

When Suga next woke, Daichi was sat at his bedside. His head was buried in a book, but raised the moment he heard him stir.

"How's Shouyou?" Suga asked, trying to prop himself up to at least look slightly more decent. It didn't quite work, Daichi letting out a sympathetic chuckle with the effort.

"Shouyou is fine." He said, smoothing some of the damp hair away from Suga's forehead with a wry smile, "He's playing in his room. I've come to look after the real person who needs it."

"Ugh, it's embarrassing." Suga groaned, trying to roll away from Daichi in his sheets, "I don't really want you seeing me too closely like this."

"Don't be embarrassed."

He turned Suga back around with his strong arms so that they were facing again, wiping a cold flannel across his face and neck.

"You've seemed stressed lately." Daichi's voice was gentler than usual.

"Maybe."

"You always look after everyone so well. Don't forget to take care of yourself, too."

Suga did not know what to say to that. Shouyou was always number one in his life, and he had Daichi now too. With his friends, work and the other children such as Tobio too always in his mind, Suga was not sure where himself ranked on the priority list.

He wanted to talk to Daichi about his stresses, about what happened at Shouyou's after school facility, but with a hand running rhythmically through his hair and the cold of the flannel across his forehead he felt the tiredness quickly returning.

"You can go back to sleep." Daichi murmured, not stopping the gentle strokes of his hair, "It's okay."

Even without Daichi's permission, Suga did not think he would be able to resist the temptation of sleep luring him back. Resting into Daichi's touch, his eyes closed once more.

 

Daylight had long gone when Suga next opened his eyes, his room cast in darkness. A quick glance at his phone told him it wasn't _so_ late _._ It was just past 11 in the evening. Although he still felt off, Suga managed to pull himself out of bed, the pounding in his head at least having stopped. Pulling on his dressing gown, he padded into the living room.

The living room was dark too. Suga could make out the form of Daichi lying across the sofa, his chest rising and falling slowly as he snored lightly. He chuckled, tiptoeing past him to Shouyou's door. Opening it a crack, Suga peered inside to see his son tucked in his bed sleeping deeply. Daichi had done a good job. Walking back to the sofa he flicked on the reading lamp, his boyfriend letting out a small groan as he began to stir.

"Why are you on the sofa?" Suga asked, flopping on top of him, "You should have got into the bed with me."

"I couldn't do that without your consent."

Daichi's eyes did not open as he spoke, and for a moment Suga was not sure if he was actually awake or not. He laughed.

"You always have my consent to just sleep next to me, god."

"Koushi, you're heavy." Daichi said lowly, despite wrapping his arms around his hips and keeping him close. Daichi's chest was warm and comforting and soothed the aches in his own. Suga rested his head in his shoulder, relaxing with his scent.

"I don't wanna move now. I'm comfy."

"Suit yourself."

Daichi yawned, his grip only tightening around Suga as they rested together.

And although the next morning when Shouyou walked into the living room and gave them a strange look and called them both weird, it was completely worth it.

 

The following Friday Suga agreed with Mrs. Yamaguchi that both Shouyou and Tobio could stay for dinner. It was his usual night to have the boys, so Suga was glad to be able to get a couple of hours to himself to relax after his long week. He took the subway one stop to the Yamaguchi's house, Mrs. Yamaguchi opening the door enthusiastically as soon as he arrived. She smiled widely, not looking too exhausted. Suga was glad; he knew how much of a handful even one of those boys could be, never mind three.

"Shouyou-kun was telling me how you have got yourself a boyfriend." Mrs. Yamaguchi gushed as she led Suga inside, horror filling him immediately with her words. The last thing he wanted to make was another enemy, especially the mother of one of his son's best friends.

"I am so happy for you!"

"You are?" He stuttered out, her response catching him off guard.

"Of course! Why wouldn't I..."

She trailed off, the smile on her face dropping momentarily before returning softer.

"Sugawara-kun, you have done an amazing job of raising such a polite, healthy, happy child. You deserve to date and find someone who makes you happy too." She said nudging Suga in the side, "You are still young for goodness sake! How old are you, 31? 32?"

"28."

She blinked for a moment, eyes opening even wider.

"If you're still in your 20's then even more so! Go and have fun, let yourself go sometimes."

"Thank you." Suga said, unsure how to reply. He was used to people reacting to him with disgust or avoidance but not active support. It was new.

"If there is ever any special days coming up that you want to spend with your boyfriend, just ask me to have Shouyou and I will be happy to do so."

"Oh no, you don't have to go that far."

Mrs. Yamaguchi shook her head with a smile.

"I want to."

 

Suga left the Yamaguchi's with two 7 year old's and a new hope. Not everything was bad, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!! :)
> 
> I can't describe how happy I am to have uploaded this chapter, I have been working on it for so long! I had a horrible writers block, and with the stress of my job and exams I found it hard to be able to write. I am sorry for keeping you all waiting for so long! I won't make any promises for when the next chapter will be finished, but I will do it!  
> I started so many other short stories while trying to get over my block and finished none of them, so I will try to finish a couple first, then get back to working on this.
> 
> Again, thank you so much! :)


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